Time
by Volturi-Love
Summary: The story of Caius and Athenodora. All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer...sadly. Also, some parts and names belong to Alycone who gave to me moments of hilarity that i simply COULD NOT pass up in my story, so all those parts are yours. R&R,enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Freedom

As usual, I got many stares from the people walking by me. It wasn't just their instincts screaming at them to run, but my albino looks scared them as well. The crowded streets of Rome immediately would part in my presence, making it easier to where I wanted, when I wanted. No one would care to follow me, so I made my way to the house of my friend Valentino.

A slave boy let me in and led me to Valentino's office but there was another man there. Apparently Valentino was finishing a trade deal so the slave took me to the reception room until the business man left. Then Valentino came out from his office and welcomed me.

"Caius, welcome," he moved forward and shook my hand, flinching slightly at my cold skin, but trying not to show his fear towards me. It was natural though, for humans to fear me, I had gotten used to it after awhile; how to manipulate their emotions towards me depending on what I wanted. "It's been so long, and the times are trying." I smiled, if only he knew how little time meant to me.

"They are, friend," I agreed though money for my "family" wasn't a problem. "But tell me, how have you been?"

"The gods find me in their favor," he bowed his head in reverence and then continued, "yet despite the bad trade, my family has prospered in our trade markets. Also, my wife is with child."

"Congratulations," I said, for pagans a child was a gift bestowed from a god for being a good citizen. "Have you thought of a name?" I asked conventionally.

"Yes," he smiled, "Ceaser." I smiled, in my human life, I was Ceaser. I was rather proud of myself, I had built up quite the empire and my name would live on forever in that legacy. It was also slightly annoying, because I had to change my name to Caius so people wouldn't recognize me. I focused back on what Valentino was talking about, but I was distracted again by a beautiful servant girl walking in. She silently placed two glasses of wine and a wine bottle on a side table and waited by the door for orders.

"And what if it's a female?" I asked, staying current with the conversation.

"It won't be," he said confidently, "We'll kill it or give it away if that is the case. Women are not suitable for continuing the family name; they are only good for one thing, and nothing else." The servant girl at the door looked at Valentino with such ferocity that if looks could kill, Valentino would be a dead man; she was strong, probably royalty before she was made a slave. I knew that the explorers would often bring back whole civilizations, royalty included, back as slaves.

"Dora, bring us food," Valentino ordered. She made a stiff bow and left; the hate almost radiated off her body. I watched her leave, not really looking at her, just in her direction; any vampire would have noticed the difference, but Valentino, in all his human slowness, did not. "You want her?" he asked me. Want her? Did I want her? Of course I wanted her! She smelled quite delicious; like honey and peaches and lavender…it made venom pool in my mouth just to think about it. I didn't say anything for a long time, not until she came back with the food. I suddenly felt guilty at how easy it would be to lure her away and…

"No," I refused, mad at myself, and Valentino for offering.

"Oh," she said softly, jerking her hand away, thinking I was refusing the food.

"No," I repeated, guiding her hand back down in front of me until she had put down the food without incident, "I was refusing Valentino's question." I clarified.

"So you don't want her?" Valentino asked, not caring whether Dora was present or not. "She's pretty, and knows how to serve but keep her mouth shut." I wanted to kill Valentino for saying that while she was here, but I couldn't, so I watched Dora's reaction. She twirled around to face me, grasping what Valentino must have offered, but not registering my answer to his question.

"You!" she choked out. In a flurry of motion she took my tray of food and threw at me. "You vile, repulsive pond scum! Dumb bunny!" (hehe, vocab insults)

"Athenodora!" Valentino barked, standing up and kicked her, making her fall over. "Good for nothing bitch! Whore!" he piled insult upon insult on her. She looked at him defiantly, yet I thought the pain in her eyes was obvious. That's when I noticed them: her eyes. They were light blue, practically grey, but when she was angry they blazed with green intensity. With the realization of her eyes, came the realization of her whole face; she was pretty, beautiful, almost. Even though Valentino was beating her now, and small trickles of blood ran down her face, she was still beautiful.

Why was I analyzing this? I asked myself; I am the living dead, nothing living could affect me. Though I didn't think it was right for Valentino to beat her like this, I made no move to stop him; I had to admit, I was captivated by her. Almost like I was under a spell…and couldn't move…though I wanted to, so I could kill Valentino. As I looked at her, she looked straight back at me with her piercing eyes and it was clear what she thought of me.

Finally, Valentino stopped and made her get on her feet. "Get up! Clean yourself and be at the guest bedroom at sundown!" he ordered and she left the room immediately. Honestly, was her punishment for insolence to make her sleep with me? I for one had no intention of letting that happen; yet, if I wanted to save her, I would have to agree to his sick plan. Of course, then she would be _my_ slave, but not for long. The plan had already formulated in my head and I had to admit, I liked it. She would be free…yes, free from Valentino…but I wondered if she would be free from me; could I let her go?

I didn't think about the answer to that question, but told Valentino on what an excellent punishment he had devised.

*****

I could hear coming down the hall, her light steps afraid and I wished there was some way I could tell her I meant her no harm and that I would not force myself on her. But I could not, so I waited for her. I wondered whether I should stand or sit…she came closer and I was still undecided. I ended up sitting at the very edge of the bed, almost ripping off the bedpost in my nervousness.

She quietly opened the door and then, with her back still to me, closed it gently. Then, she slowly turned to face me, dropping down her robe at the same time. I wondered what Valentino had threatened her with if she was doing this without a fight. But back to the situation at hand, my eyes did not travel down the length of her body; instead, I stayed, looking into her mysterious eyes. I stood up and picked up her robe, handing it to her, careful not to look at her; I was afraid I wouldn't be able to look away.

"Clothe yourself," I whispered. She quickly put the robe back on and then asked me where we were going. "Shh," I tried to quiet her, "We don't want him to suspect anything," I knew what this looked like to her, but I didn't have time to explain, only to act.

"I don't care!" she shrieked, "I'll scream until the devil comes to take me before you do!" I smiled, but did not let her see. I thought it was rather ironic; the devil coming to take her, me a vampire…what a morbid sense of humor.

"I'm helping you," I said, trying to make my voice sound reassuring, it only terrified her more.

"To hell you are!" she yelled. That was it, if she wasn't going to cooperate I would have to take manners into my own hands and take her by force.

"Your choice," I sighed, and in an instant was behind her with my hand clamped down over her mouth and my other arm holding her still. She screamed and screamed and screamed, but it was all in vain; I had her trapped. I felt bad, but now what choice did I have. I jumped, with her in my arms, through the window and thirty seconds later I was at my house and left her in the guest bedroom. I had made sure that I had left the correct amount of money at Valentino's house so it looked like I had bought her.

I listened intently, and I could still hear her screams and I wondered why I had saved her; it didn't make much sense…maybe I was just bored. I decided to clear my head and go hunt in the marketplace, it would also provide an escape from hearing her screams. Plus, this hour was the best for hunting; no one would notice if someone suddenly disappeared.

I left quietly through the garden and took less used alleys until I was in the central square. I went deeper into the mob of midday shoppers until an old beggar woman caught my eye. She was certain to not be missed and I began to make my way to where she was. I was suddenly cut off by a particularly obnoxious vendor selling an assortment of clothes.

"Her good sir, buy your lady royal robes! Look like royalty!" he shoved one of his products in my face. It smelled like wool…and it annoyed me further. I pushed him out of the way, already being able to smell the beggar woman's scent. Sadly, the vendor recovered quickly and was back to following me, persisting I buy his merchandise. Finally, I decided to spare the old woman, and turned to the vendor. I was doing his family a favor by killing him, he really was just annoying. He smiled, thinking I had given in to his "amazing bargain", little did he know that he was part of it.

"How much?" I asked, following him to his little shop. Thankfully, it was empty. I decided that since I was already here, after I killed the man, I might as well bring back something for Dora to wear since she had nothing. I pointed to a purple and dark blue robe with fur trimmed along the edges.

"Excellent choice," the man exulted, and turned his back to me, to bring down the article from off the hanger. I smiled; he would never see me coming. In a second I had snapped his neck and was quenching my thirst. I had to admit, the vendor smelled and tasted much better than the beggar woman, and now I had women's robes of every color. The only slight problem was that I had never had to go shopping for women's clothing, and now I had no idea what to look for; I took a little bit of everything.

After I was satisfied with my choices, I ran back to my house loaded with the robes. I had to laugh at a couple of the stares I got; I bet it looked like I had just finished shopping for a harem rather than one girl. Once at the courtyard of my house I slowed down and listened to see if there were any humans nearby. I heard the guards taking their rounds in the outer halls, the servants underground cleaning and preparing today's dinner. I tuned these out, and then I heard the soft pulsing sound of Dora's heart beating. I followed the melodic sound until I stood in front of the doors leading to her room.

I knocked quietly, and waited. I knew she would be angry and suspicious, but I had prepared and explanation…that is, if she opened the door, which she didn't. I knocked harder. Nothing. I impatiently opened the door and was stunned by what I saw. Well, for starters, she wasn't ignoring me, she was asleep. She was curled up in a ball in the very center of the sultan bed that was situated in the center of the room. She had been crying; the tears where still fresh on her face. I wiped one of with my finger, but it simply turned to ice and plummeted down her face, sparkling until it melted into the sheets. But how it sparkled…it reminded me of a vampire's skin. I looked at Dora and imagined her as a vampire. It hurt more than it should have. She didn't deserve to be a vampire; it didn't suit her.

She looked so angelic and peaceful in sleep. Sure, she was beautiful normally, and absolutely stunning when she was angry; but with a sudden realization I saw that her beauty was terrifying. She let out a soft sigh and shifted minimally, but it caught my attention. Her soft lips were slightly parted, and I could hear the air flow in between them. I noticed things now about her that had slipped passed me before, like her hair. The dim lightning accented the highlights in her hair; like fine spun gold. It was wavy, and it framed her heart-shaped face, but what caught my eye, was her pale skin. Almost the same as mine! Was she even healthy? Only then did I realize how delicate and frail she looked. And as this realization dawned upon me, her eyes slowly opened and she awoke. She looked around, and I saw her flinch when she saw me.

"It wasn't a nightmare?" she asked.

"No," I murmured sadly…so this was all just a terrifying dream to her? And, by the looks of it, I was the villain, the antagonist in her dream. I looked away from her, her hatred/fear of me hurt much more than it should have, and that angered me. I tried with all my might to shove her refusal of me out of my brain, but somewhere, it lingered, unwanted. Despite that, I decided to tell about the robes, and invite her to dinner; how small she was scared me. A human dinner, of course, not one where she would be _my_ dinner. That meant that I would have to pretend to eat food, but I found myself willing to do this if it meant spending time with her.

"Dora," I began. I had wanted my voice to come out strong, but it simply could not when I said her name. Again, setting that aside, I continued with what I was going to tell her. "I…while you sleeping I was at the market. I knew you didn't bring any belongings or clothes, so I bought some." I gestured to the rather large mound of robes stacked on a chair. She glanced at them, then looked back at me, but said nothing. "Also, you haven't eaten anything…so…" I couldn't believe I said the next words that came out of my mouth. "I'm inviting you to dinner." By the look on her face she couldn't believe my invitation either.

"Excuse me?" she asked, appalled, "do you honestly think you can win me over with clothes—" as her anger mounted she stepped closer to me.

"Stop," I cautioned her to halt her advance.

"and then invite me to dinner with you?" she continued.

"Please," I begged her to stop. I had never begged to anyone before.

"Well you are sorely mistaken because I will _never_—" I had warned her to stop walking towards me, and she hadn't paid any attention to it. She had no idea how far over "too close" she had come; I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed her shoulders, leaned down and kissed her. I had no idea whether she fought back or not, but what scared me the most was that I enjoyed it. I immediately let her go, but already thirsted for more, and that's when the thought occurred to me: I might love her. Might. And that was what made all the difference. If I knew for sure I loved her who knows what I would do, but I was unsure of myself. The fact that she hated me also contributed to that sentiment. While I thought of this, she was shocked into silence and I left; no other words passing between us. I couldn't even begin to formulate a sentence to say to her so I left. I told my servants to attend to her every need when she recovered, and then walked to my room. I was shocked at myself, at her, at everything!

I was stopped short by a guard.

"Master, your brother Aro is calling." I was not expecting a visit from him and wondered what the occasion was.

"Let him in, of course," I said, impatient and annoyed with pretty much everyone. My "brothers", Marcus and Aro, along with their wives, Didyme and Sulpicia were always welcome at my house.

I switched directions, from my room to the large reception room, and waited for Aro to come. Soon enough he was standing in front of me, wearing his long flowing black robes that we all usually wore when we were in Volterra.

"Brother," I said, both in acknowledgement and welcoming.

"Brother," Aro smiled. I had only known Aro for 900 years and had discovered he had an inexhaustible supply of energy. It irked me, it scared me, but most of the time I ignored it; it was the only way to stay sane (well, as sane as possible) when around Aro.

"What news do you bring?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"The Romanian's," Aro growled. He went from being all open, smiles, and welcome to serious and angry in less than a second; that's what made Aro such a convincing enemy. "They've learned of our plans to overthrow them. This very moment they're amassing an army to counter ours."

"It is best to strike now then." I said, "before they complete their battalion and strike first." Aro shook his head in frustration.

"They just turned a newborn, Jesus. Apparently, he has the power to bring back the dead." Aro didn't like to lose, that much I knew about him, and if he could get any advantage he would take it; here there was none. "I don't know the specifics, but if it's true then they will be virtually unstoppable."

"We'll have to get rid of him as soon as possible, then." I said simply, no need to overcomplicate things…yet. "But, with what we have in Volterra now, it won't be enough. We're going to need more forces, _talented_ forces."

"How many, do you think?" Aro asked. As smart as Aro was in fine arts, he was practically a child in military skill, which was where I stepped in to fill the gaps.

"The number is insignificant, though, of course we'll need a few disposable bodies, but the true body count mainly depends on the potency of the talents we find." I thought of my human war years, and applied to vampire standards.

"Potency?" Aro specified.

"Yes, why?" I asked.

"I've been watching two twins for quite some time, and I think they might be the "potency" we're looking for. When they're changed, I'm positive they'll have powerful gifts."

"Then why have you not changed them?" I asked impatiently, "The sooner they can be trained, the better."

"They are…young," Aro hesitated, "only children, about thirteen."

"I see," That _did_ complicate things, but it made more sense. Aro could be an energetic wrecking ball, but he wasn't stupid; we both knew what immortal children could do. "Well then, we don't have very long until we will be forced to change them, but if, as you say, they'll be an advantage to us then keep an eye on them."

"They will be great," Aro said firmly. A servant came in just then,

"Lord Caius, your guest is…" he didn't quite know how to finish the sentence and I could only imagine what Dora was doing.

"Dinner?" Aro asked.

"Something like that," I lied, and then excused myself. Aro stopped me before I could leave.

"Well, I must go and tend to matters in Volterra. I will return with Marcus tomorrow so we can commune at Volterra. Until the morrow." He did a strange little wave and then was gone. I was somewhat relieved that he was gone, and also dreading at having to face Dora again. I realized that this was our "dinner" together, so I went straight to the large dining room just as the food was being served. I thought of how glorious she would look in her new clothes and was rather surprised to see her actually wearing them. Not that she didn't look gorgeous wearing them, but I expected more fight in her, oh well, might as well as enjoy the image while I could. It saddened me to think that soon I would be letting her go by freeing her.

I sat down at the head of the table, while she sat at the very opposite end. I knew it was custom more than anything, but I knew she liked being as far away as possible from me.

"Good evening," I greeted her.

"Good evening," she whispered much more quietly. I had no idea what else to say, so while the food was being served I asked her how she had slept.

"How did you know I was sleeping?" she asked. I had forgotten I hadn't quite told her what I was doing in her room when she woke up.

"I was…dropping of the robes, I'm glad you're wearing them." Though I knew it was probably way over line, I added, "they look good on you." She gave me an incredulous look, but said nothing, and I saw the faintest blush flutter across her cheeks. The conversation pretty much ended there as she pecked delicately at her food. Since I had no food in front of me, except a "wine" glass, I watched as she ate. I noticed that her posture, for being a "servant" was flawless; everything just added up. She had to be high-born before she was captured and made a slave. I wanted to ask her about it, but she was already suspicious of me, so I reluctantly kept quite.

I took a sip from my goblet and I accidentally spoke what I was thinking; I seemed to be having the problem a lot around her.

"You need not fear me," At least it might end the awkward silence.

"I don't fear you," her voice was ice cold. "I hate you." I had to smile a bit at her words, what exactly had I done to earn her enmity and hatred so convincingly?

"So be it," I sighed, "But might I inquire why I have your enmity?" She gave me a sardonic look before answering.

"You kidnapped me, made me your slave, and I'm guessing you're trying to win me over with lavish gifts. I will never be yours." She poured out her anger; and she looked beautiful the whole time. So much so, that I barely registered her words.

"I didn't know giving gifts was always with a bad intention," I smirked. "And, you assume wrong. I don't want to win you over." So far, that was pretty much the only lie I had told her, "and the gifts are for when you live by yourself, though I don't think you would be able to keep the suitors away for very long." Confusion washed across her face, but she tried to keep it hidden.

"I—I don't understand," she murmured.

"I'm setting you free." I explained simply. "I don't want you as a slave." True, I wanted her as much more than that, but otherwise true. "I bought you from Valentino to set you free. You're a Roman citizen now." She looked at me earnestly and without disdain for a few seconds before suspicion crept into her eyes. "I know you're of noble blood." I added, taking a guess. She nodded,

"From Greece," she smiled gently, "my real name is Athenodora."

"Athenodora," I got up and went to the opposite end of the table, where she was, and got down to kiss her hand. "I am Caius Volturi."

"A pleasure," she whispered in her soft, quiet voice. She blushed and withdrew her hand.

"The pleasure is mine."


	2. Chapter 2

Volterra

Athenodora left the next day for the royal court to re-introduce herself as the long lost Grecian princess. As she was leaving through the gates Aro and Marcus rode in, barring me from making some tearful, sincere, goodbye to her; I could never show that much emotion in front of Aro or Marcus. They had an extra horse with them, and I immediately knew we were traveling human style.

"Ready?" Aro asked, not dismounting his horse.

"Where to?" I asked, making sure we were actually going to Volterra. Aro took it for incompetence.

"Volterra, obviously." I sighed and went forward to mount the horse. I was glad it was a war horse, any other would have gotten too skittish around us. As we rode through town, we passed a man preaching to many followers.

"That's Jesus," Aro whispered to us.

"He has many disciples," Marcus added, "he preaches the 'Word of God', and promises salvation."

"But in public?" I asked genuinely surprised, "that goes against their very own rules!"

"Not if it's in their advantage," Marcus sighed, "He was probably sent by the leaders to look for humans showing potential as immortals."

"It's wrong, but it will be effective," Aro hissed, "even know he has a group of Twelve very devoted followers, willing to die for him." Aro glowered at one of the listeners to Jesus. "And the more public he gets, the harder it will be to kill him."

"Or," I smiled, "A public execution which would weaken them to exposure." It would make a big statement and more importantly, get a powerful player out of the picture

"If he is as popular as we make him out to be, then the government may have to get involved." Aro said. "Caius, you have a high position in government, right?"

"Yes," I nodded, "I'll see what I can do. But that's only one man, the other leaders of the Romanian coven…"

"They have one in total control, a king, if you will. His name is Octavious, and his wife Christine. There are three "advisors"; Vladimir, Stephan, and Piero." Aro said. "Vladimir and Stephan have mates, Danitela and Nicolette. From what I've heard, the three of them have quite a bit of authority."

"Piero has no mate?" I clarified; mates could be used.

"No," Aro chuckled, "he believes women are a weakness." I nodded because I partly understood that sentiment because of Aro and Marcus. They both had mates, Sulpicia and Didyme, and anytime the topic of them being weaknesses was refuted with their vehement arguing so it just wasn't worth it. I didn't have a mate, and didn't intend on getting one soon. I hadn't even had a wife in my human days, so nothing seemed too different. I decided to switch the topic before another mate vs. no mate discussion broke out.

"Tell me more about the twins you were watching,"

"Not this again," Marcus muttered quietly. Aro didn't hear him and began to give me a long, detailed, report on the two twins; Jane and Alec. He was worried though; their village had had a small harvest and their village had blamed it on superstitious reasons involving bad luck and a manifestation of witches in their village. The perfect blame? The two, antisocial, orphaned twins. The only way to "kill" a witch was burning at the stake; if Aro wanted to save them he would have to act soon.

The rest of the way we, well Aro and I, discussed plans. Marcus remained silent the entire time and I asked him why. He didn't answer, I wasn't sure if he even heard me. Aro then explained his ignorance simply.

"Oh, he's just thinking about Didyme."

"I thought you had to touch someone to know what they're thinking." I said. Aro glanced at me like I was quite stupid.

"Look at his face," he laughed. Hmm, that did explain things. I don't think Marcus would have noticed if there was a hole in front of him; it's like I could see Didyme in his eyes.

"I guess a woman really can drive a man crazy," I muttered.

"Are you referring to Marcus or your little friend back at your house?" Aro asked seriously, but I could already see the innuendos coming.

"Marcus, obviously," I scowled. Aro laughed but didn't say anything else. Aro had a mate, but he wasn't constantly thinking about her, at least, if he did, he didn't show it that much. I guess Marcus and Didyme had a stronger bond than most vampire couples.

"Eternity suits them," I accidentally said out loud.

"Yes, it does," Aro agreed. But there was something in his voice that made his words seem unconvincing. I pushed the suspicious thoughts out of my head; I was never one for sentimental or emotional reasoning so I let it go. Didyme was Aro's sister, of course he meant her no harm, I stopped trying to figure out what was strange about what Aro had said, it would get me nowhere.

Five minutes later, we rounded a bend and the palazzo was visible beyond the gates to our fair city. Marcus made his horse go at a gallop and when I looked up I found his motivation standing right in front of the large wooden double doors. She really was a pretty thing, and a smile grew on her face as Marcus came nearer. About 10 meters before reaching Didyme, Marcus jumped off his horse and landed right in front of her.

"Where's the most beautiful girl in the world?" he whispered to her. She giggled and they embraced. I looked away for the sake of their privacy and instead saw Sulpicia coming out of the castle. A small smile formed on the "face that launched a 1,000 ships" as Aro came closer.

"Paris," she waved to him. Only after he had dismounted properly did he go over to her and whisper, "Helen."

I felt sick from the whole overkill of love. And, since I was the only one not currently bonding with a mate at the moment, I had to go put the horses away at the stables. I grumbled a few profanities but otherwise proceeded to put away the horses.

"Gathering room in ten minutes!" Aro called out to me before disappearing inside the castle. I put away the horses and then went up to my room; it was such a relief to have peace of quiet. I had most of my possessions here rather than in Rome, or any other of the eight houses I currently owned.

I decided to change, the horse smell clinging to my clothes wasn't very appealing, and I wanted to make an impression on the newborns today. I opened up the large bureau that Sulpicia had installed in my room and found two types of robes: black, and black-er. Not that I was self conscious or anything, it's just that my hair and black did not go well together; it vaguely reminded me of an Oreo cookie. After changing, I decided to kill time by organizing my room and finally settled down to work on my star map I had begun a week ago.

Each one of us, my brothers and I, had different pastimes. Aro was obsessed with history, contrasts, and predicting how things would turn out. His favorite contrast was that of love and hate; he found it fascinating how easily one could turn into the other. Marcus, however, preferred medicine and the arts. His favorite subject to draw, paint, or sculpt was Didyme, and he did a good job of capturing different aspects of her in his work. But, that didn't leave me with a lot of options to specialize in, so I was the "nerd", studying astronomy mathematics and the like. Inventing things was also particularly enjoyable, as well as understanding the mechanics of the things that already existed. All three of us were involved enjoyed politics and had different government positions. I liked watching the economy and experimenting with different variables in different situations. It was close to Aro's study of contrasts, but applied to different circumstances.

I didn't get very far on my map before I realized that ten minutes had already passed. I swiftly made my way down to the meeting room and sat on one of the five plain chairs provided for us. Aro, Sulpicia, Marcus, and Didyme were already present, so my arrival commenced the proceedings. In addition to us, there were several other younger vampires that maintained a permanent residence with us; they had named themselves the Guard. Their names were Heidi, Alan, Faith, Dara, Santiago, Judas, Elzix, Akara, Meshif, and Rachael. Lastly, there were other talented vampires that had convened here to join the Guard.

Aro addressed our existing Guard with a floury speech of praise while Didyme used her talent to make everyone excited and happy to be here. After the rousing speech, Aro turned to the newborns.

"Friends," he smiled excitedly, "You have come from abroad to join our cause in fighting the unjust rule of the Romanian's. We thank you and commend you on your honor and bravery for this action. We need every single one of you to have the greatest chance at removing the Romanian's from power; all of you will be members of the Great Revolution." His voice had subtly changed from cheery to commanding, and he had everyone's full attention. He let the words sink in and in the silence, the newbies began to cheer. He waited for them to quiet down before continuing. "As such, if you could please demonstrate your talent so we can decide how you will be most beneficial for our cause." A ripple of anxiety ran through the crowd; they were _excited_ to present to us…it disgusted me.

The first to present was a small, almost insignificant creature with a cascade of red hair with an almost visible aura of happiness.

"I'm Chelsea," she introduced herself to us.

"What can you do?" Aro almost cooed.

"I can strengthen or weaken bonds." She said and smiled.

"Oh wonderful!" Aro exulted, "Marcus, you can verify this, right?"

"Yes," Marcus nodded. It was quiet for a minute and then Marcus showed Aro whatever he saw with his talent and that obviously was enough evidence for Aro to believe Chelsea's talent. Marcus calmly took his hand back from Aro and instead put it on Didyme's who squeezed it slightly. The slightest smile grew on Marcus' lips before he went back to paying attention to the demonstrations.

"Chelsea," Aro said, "I'm sure your talent will be of great use to us."

"Thank you, Master," Aro beamed at being called "Master" and seemed to go off into his own "special" little world for several minutes before registering the new vampire standing before him.

"Name?" Aro asked.

"Demetri," the large male said smoothly. "I'm a tracker," he said proudly, and then more menacingly, "I can track anyone in the world as soon as I have the tenor of their minds."

"Interesting," Aro said pensively, "That would be rather hard to demonstrate.

"I'm sure he is a reliable source," I said. I didn't think there was someone stupid enough to lie right in front of us. "And with that, we can make sure there are no other survivors when we battle the Romanian's." I realized just how potent his talent could be.

"No counterattacks either," Marcus added.

"_This_ is a useful talent. Demetri, I'm sure we can find a place for you within our ranks." I said. Demetri nodded and moved off to the side, and a lanky, but tall, young vampire took his place.

"I'm Corin," he mumbled.

"Speak up, boy!" I ordered; we didn't have time for shy incompetents.

"I'm Corin." The boy repeated much stronger. Aro gave me a "look" and then asked,

"And what is your gift, young one?"

"I can control fire," Corin said.

"Now this I must see," Aro said excitedly, "the uses…whole armies can be destroyed." Corin smiled and a small flickering flame appeared at the very tip of his finger.

"Oh yes," I said sarcastically. "We're going to wipe out whole Roman legions with that wildfire."

"I would show you the full extent of my power," Corin said slowly. As he spoke, the flame at the tip of his finger became a large, hovering flaming ball, with a twin in his other hand. "But then, you'd be a pile of ashes," He finished.

I opened my mouth to refute him, but Aro quieted me before I said anything.

"Caius," He sighed in his annoying condescending tone, "let's behave ourselves, there are guests present." I scowled, but remained silent; Aro might be annoying, but usually he had a good reason to be. "Now, Corin," Aro turned back to the waiting vampire, "I'm sure you're talent will be very useful during combat. Caius will find a place for you in our battle formations." Corin didn't look all too thrilled to have to be working with me, but since I was the military head of the Volturi, battle strategies and the like was under my jurisdiction.

It made me realize just how Marcus, Aro and I were able to work together and in the end, it was quite simple. Though we could all adequately fill in any job necessary, Aro was the best speaker and planner, I was the best strategist and fighter (though not by much), and Marcus was…the heart of everyone. Marcus I guessed was the reason that we all could coexist together without constantly bickering, though we had bouts of that at times. He was more emotional that Aro and I put together, it reminded me of why I was here in the first place. Sure, I could run an army well, but I had overheard Aro tell his sister once that he preferred me as an ally rather than an enemy. It was an interesting bit of information, but I didn't make to much out of it. It was best never to underestimate Aro or look to deeply or lightly into what he said; it's what made him a dangerous enemy and cautious ally.

But, back to the topic at hand, the next demonstrator to come forward was a huge blonde male named Afton.

"My talent is purely physical," he grinned, "I retain the strength of a newborn."

"How very useful!" Aro clapped. It would be interesting to train Afton, physical fighters were always so…cocky, but they were good at what they did.

The demonstrations began to become monotonous after that and I left. Aro's fetish for powerful talents disturbed me…well, everything about Aro disturbed me, but I ignored that. I slowly walked up to my room and reclined on one of the many couches in my room since I didn't have a bed.

Didyme and Sulpicia teased me incessantly about my single status. At one point, they would tell Heidi to fish for very beautiful women hoping that one would catch my eye. The only one that came to mind right now was the beautiful Athenodora that I had left back in Rome. Somehow, though I had barely gotten to know her, I missed her; if only she wasn't human…


	3. Chapter 3

Training

I had to clear my head from her spell, and on top of that I had to prepare for the training of the new Guard. The perfect way to do that? Hunt. I was rather thirsty anyway and Venice wasn't too far away. I sat up from my sofa, stretched, and walked to my window before jumping through it and landing in the garden.

I saw a small cottage coming up a couple miles away from the city and decided to eat there. After observing for five minutes I discovered that there was an old couple living there, as well as the wife's sister. All in all, it would make a satisfying meal.

After quenching my thirst, I knew I had to remove the evidence and while I did I thought about how I would never grow old, never die…I wasn't sure what to make of it. I assumed that it would be like most things; enjoyable at first and then hell after. The only problem with that assumption was that for an immortal when was "first" and when was "after"? There was so much I didn't know… The small house burned to the ground and I made sure all evidence was destroyed.

After, I ran back to Volterra to the East Wing. Here was the communal library and where Marcus, Aro, their wives and I had our rooms. Every time I passed through here I was always reminded at just how architecturally fascinating the castle really was. It was huge above ground, and probably even larger below ground, with the sewer tunnels, garages, and extra rooms. We had an elegant entrance with large hand-crafted and jewel studded double doors with a V on them. Above that was our family symbol, and behind the entrance lobby were several pointless/ordinary rooms which were changed to suit whatever purposes they could be used for.

Further along the hall were the treasure rooms and finally, splitting in half towards the right and left part of the castle were the Guard's rooms. Beneath this whole first floor, underground, were the art, music, and other recreational rooms.

The West Wing was still being built, designed by Marcus, and it consisted of several large gathering halls, a huge ballroom, a chapel, and other rarely used but necessary rooms. Scattered throughout the castle were random living rooms and on the 3rd above ground floor there were several turrets that overlooked the entire village and surrounding green valley.

At the very center of the castle were the connected feeding and meeting rooms. The two rooms were the only connection directly from our underground system into the epicenter of the castle. All in all, the castle was perfect for vampires; and advantage if we ever had to defend it. I had never really had to think about our defenses, but I suppose with imminent war I should begin to.

I didn't want war, I just wanted the power that came with winning it, and whatever came with that power. Now, I didn't want to get ahead of myself; for now, we were the ones with the disadvantage and it must be viewed as such if we wanted to have a chance at winning.

*****

All the new additions to our Guard were in a straight horizontal line in front of me and the already trained Guard members.

"Today won't be easy," I began. There was no point in lying to them or trying to make things seem easy. "You will be trained and tested not only in your special ability, but also in basic fighting and defense. This will assure you won't be defenseless if for some reason your talent is rendered useless. Any questions?" They all stood still and silent. "Well then, let's begin." A few of them tensed, in case there would be a fight, but what was coming was much worse. "Bring them in," I ordered.

The trained members of the Guard brought in around 100 humans. Many of the new vampires leaned forward in anticipation; this would be the hardest part for them. The smell of a human was quite mouthwatering even when the blood was contained, but when fresh blood was present…well…things could get ugly very quickly.

Again, at my signal, the humans were killed. As humanely as possible, of course, and seconds after, the smell of fresh blood saturated the area. Whines, and other strenuous sounds of restraint and control were heard from the vampires' desire.

"Hold it for fifteen minutes," I said. "If you want, after, you may feed. _But_ if anyone should go before then, they shall be punished. This is so you learn endurance under pain." Fifteen minutes was quite a bit of time, so I returned to my room and planned the rest of the training.

Twenty minutes later I returned back outside to continue with the newborns.

"You made us wait an extra five minutes!" someone complained.

"So?" I scoffed, "the enemy will use whatever is in their disposition to distract you. This is preparing you for that." I explained, "and also, complainers are punished, so add another five minutes."

"But—" they complained.

"Ten," I said. They fell quiet, knowing other protests would only add more time to their prolonged suffering. "Just so you know," I added, "you are all a single unit now. What happens to one member is applied to all of you, so I suggest you get to know one another." The silence in the clearing was amazing, considering how many people were present. It's not that I enjoy being sadistic, well, perhaps a little bit, it was just that being firm and harsher discipline made the training go by faster and be more efficient. I looked at the group in front of me and tried to pick out who I thought who would be useful and survive, and those who would…not.

After the "grueling" ten minutes passed without incident I let those who wanted to feed and then wait for the bodies to be cleared. The next item on the agenda was scrimmaging; it would keep them entertained and require the least amount of effort from me, except for the demonstration. I knew which would be the best example: Alan. He was probably the largest of our existing Guard, with Elzix in a close second. The difference was that Alan knew how to use his strength _and_ his brain, while Elzix fought only with brute force.

"Listen up!" I shouted, not finding the patience to sound pretty. "You're going to scrimmage each other next." A ripple of anxiety and anticipation ran through the crowd. "Fight how you naturally would, and don't use your talent. We will categorize you based on that. Now," I turned to Alan in our Guard, "are you ready for the demonstration?"

"Yes, Master," he nodded. Apparently the whole "Master" thing had caught on throughout the entire Guard. We had decided to not plan the moves for the demonstration to make it most lifelike. I knew most of the Guard had already taken bets on who would win, as a matter of fact, so had Aro and Marcus. Hoping to prove Aro wrong, and preserve my dignity, I knew I would beat Alan if it was the last thing I ever did. I sighed, clearing my head; Aro always laughed at my one-track mindedness. I focused back to the matter at hand and was glad I knew Alan's weak points. He was a very offensive fighter, so that meant I would be playing defensive; luckily for the crows, I was good at defense and knew many fancy counterattack moves that provided enjoyable eye candy. While I was distracted thinking about this, Alan took the opportunity to tackle me.

Great.

I grabbed a hold of his leg and pulled back. Not only did it cause a lot of pain, but it enabled me to throw him off. While he soared through the air I got back up and actually prepared myself this time. As Alan made his way towards me again, I knew exactly what I would do. We circled, while he took small jabs at me until finally he grabbed me on the side and tried to push me back. I reversed the pull and diverted the energy so that I pushed him forward to the ground. In less than a second I had my hands around his neck and that brought the demo to an end. There was a small, scattered, round of applause before the crowd dispersed into pairs for scrimmaging.

A key to part of someone's personality was who they chose to fight. If a bulky vampire chose a small one then obviously they were proud, stubborn, cowards, etc. I watched from a distance as the vampires fought each other. Members of the already existing Guard were dispersed throughout the mob to take stock of vampires with potential and correct any rule-breaking going on.

While watching, Marcus and Didyme came up beside me.

"Caius," Didyme smiled. I knew that evil smile she had on her face, it's the one she wore when she wanted something. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"But the training…" I protested.

"Oh, it's okay," Marcus said, completely oblivious of how his very own wife had set him up just to get to me, "I'll take over for you."

"Okay," I had no choice but to concede to whatever Didyme wanted. She ran off not to the castle, but to the marketplace. "What are we doing?" I asked, annoyed.

"It's my 200th anniversary with Marcus tomorrow and I need to get him a present," she explained.

"Okay, I get the part with the gift," I said uncertainly, "but I don't understand why you brought me, why not Sulpicia?"

"Oh, you're much more fun, and I need a male's perspective," she giggled.

"Aro?" I suggested.

"He's my brother, and I don't want him to ruin my fun."

"Well frankly, I don't think I'm going to be much fun either," I muttered but knew I wasn't getting out of this. I simply followed her around and told her whether some off the things she picked out were worth keeping or not.

Suddenly, she held up a green robe with yellow embellishments and embroidery. "What about this?" she asked.

"No," I laughed, "though I'm sure he'll make an adorable sunflower."

"Don't talk about him like that!" she defended him.

"My apologies," I said sarcastically, "Marcus will make a very handsome sunflower." Didyme slapped me and I tripped her. Yes, Didyme and I were always very mature around one another.

"It's no wonder you don't have a mate," she scoffed.

"I prefer it that way," I reassured her.

"I'm sure you do," she mocked.

"Fine then," I said, "I bet you by the end of this month I will have a mate."

"Agreed, actually, can we take this bet up with Aro, so it's between you and Aro?" she asked.

"Why?" Now I was confused.

"Because I'd feel too bad when you lose and then Marcus would get mad at you when I feel guilty." She said in a condescending voice.

"You're just afraid of losing," I laughed. She rolled her eyes and moved to a different shop. I followed her but in a much better mood which now annoyed her.

In the end she didn't even buy anything and we ran back to the castle while I furiously complained to her that I she had just wasted one hour of my undead life that I would never get back. She refuted me with an argument of how could I possibly be impatient when I had all eternity. When we caught up with Marcus he, of course, took her side and Aro, just to annoy me, did as well.


	4. Chapter 4

Trust

That night, while Aro and I were playing chess, Didyme brought up our bet from the marketplace.

"Brother," Didyme cooed, "Caius and I made a bet and I said you would join."

"Sister, why would you possibly ever say that?" Aro asked, moving a knight to finish his Barza Opening.

"Because you'll win," Didyme smiled. Aro actually looked up,

"Really? What is the bet?" he asked.

"Caius finding a mate in a month," Didyme said, believing herself to already have a victory.

"What are the terms of the bet?" Aro asked. "Oh, and Marcus, I feel so terribly sorry for Caius." I knew Aro used many tactics to distract me and make a mistake in our game; it wasn't working this time, but I decided to play along

"Why is that?" Marcus asked, knowing what Aro was doing as well.

"With such looks and character, he will never find a mate. Which vampire do you know is both stupid and blind? She'll probably need to be deaf too." Aro frowned.

I concealed a smile, "Oh is that so? And just so you know, if I you win then I must lose every chess match to you, but if I win, then you must wear a sign that says 'I'm a hypocrite and an idiot.'"

"An idiot?" Aro asked, "Why is that?"

"Simple," I smiled, "checkmate." I then broke out in laughter at the stunned look currently residing in Aro's face, Marcus even laughed too. It took Aro about two whole minutes to fully compose himself again,

"I think you should go back to Rome and speak our voice in the government," Aro said, switching the subject away from his embarrassment.

"I think I will," I said smugly, "after another chess match."

I beat him two times in a row after that, _then_ I left back to Rome. Marcus would be training the newborns the next day, so I didn't have to worry about that. I did however have to deal with what I had left behind in Rome, and that involved Athenodora.

I dressed in royal and governmental robes for the meeting I would have soon with the High Council. Until the meeting began, I waited in the courtyard, thinking of how I would address the problem with Jesus in the most official way. A bubbling laugh, the sound of music, distracted me from my thoughts and I immediately knew who it belonged to. It was thrilled at the sound, but also dreaded it.

I looked to my left to see Athenodora walking into the courtyard with another, uglier, female. How she had changed! She now stood tall with her loose, flowing dress and clean shining hair. I stared at her in awe until she finally felt my gaze and looked at me. I saw surprise register in her face and then uncertainty.

She dismissed the other woman with her and came over to where I was.

"Caius," she said, "I have not seen you here in awhile," she said.

"It's only been one day," I said softly, wondering whether this was some kind of indication of attraction.

"Oh, yes," she blushed, "it seems like it's been longer."

"Well, much has changed since we last were together," I said, trying to soften my distinction.

"Yes," she agreed, "I forgot to thank you for releasing me. I didn't realize what you did until…now."

"It was nothing," I smiled, but I lied. It was something, definitely _something_ because now I felt very attracted to her.

"So, what exactly are you doing here?" she asked. I couldn't help but be pleased that she wanted to know what I was doing. Of course it was probably to make polite conversation, but her words always meant so much more to me.

"I'm speaking to the High Council," I said dismissively, "quite boring, really."

"I wish you could miss it," she sighed, sadly.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Because," her face suddenly grew very red in response to a deep blush, "I want to spend more time with you."

"Oh," I was completely surprised, but pleased, _very _pleased. "Perhaps after the meeting then, we could…" I had no idea what was considered 'socializing' these days.

"Take a walk," she filled in.

"Very well," I agreed, "we'll take a walk." I got up, noticing the gates to the meeting chamber open, she stood as well. "If you'll excuse me," I bowed slightly and left. I heard her very belated 'goodbye Caius' even through the walls of the room, and it made me smile.

A half hour into the meeting, I was given the opportunity to present my case to the other officials.

"Jesus of Nazareth," I began, "is a problem that should be watched. Not only is he sprouting blasphemy and offending the other religions, he is inciting revolt and forbidding the people to pay tribute to our glorious empire. He preaches giving money to his Church and to those necessary, not only giving the untouchables money, but that which is left over not to the Empire, but to 'his' ridiculous church." I stopped and looked at each man there. "I warn you, if this nuisance isn't stopped now, then the empire will have a revolt from the likes we've never seen. It _cannot_ continue!"

There were many resounding approvals that circulated throughout the room and plans were made to try Jesus for charges against the government. I congratulated myself on my victory in the government and then scowled at the prospect of having to sit through an hour and a half more of pointless arguments and cases.

Finally, the meeting came to a close and I was free to go; I was the first one out the door and sure enough, there was Athenodora waiting all alone next to a fountain. She smiled when she saw me, and I toyed with the idea of believing there to be two suns in my world; one significantly more radiant that the other.

"Ready?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound too eager.

"Yes," she said softly and we walked from the courtyard to the outer gardens which bordered the forest. She told me her story from Greece and how she had been captured and sold here; everything until now. By the end of her tale, we were deep into the forest and had just reached a clearing with a patch of wildflowers on the right.

"They're so pretty," she said, running over to them. I turned around, letting her out of my sight, and wondered exactly why she would trust me so quickly. Sure, I had freed her from captivity, never taken advantage of her, but it seemed like so little especially considering the time span. I heard a surprised squeal and turned at inhuman speed only to find her in the arms of another man.

I was not jealous more than I was surprised and suddenly furious because I knew this other man. It was Piero, an advisor to Octavious, the leader of the Romanian coven. He had his hand over her mouth and her hands bound together with his own hand.

"Caius, right?" he asked. I made no indication of even hearing him; I was too angry to. "Now, now, what are you doing with this lovely creature all alone out here?" he asked, stroking her cheek. She flinched, and that gave me strength. "A midday snack, perhaps?"

"Leave her alone," I growled.

"So you _do_ speak," he said in a strange voice, "and of course I mean the girl no harm. You however, and your coven, are proving to be quite annoying. We already have an army large enough to demolish yours, but really, I expected more than this!" he laughed. "I come out to hunt and look what I happen upon. So unprotected! Not even a challenge, really…" he trailed off. He threw Athenodora to the side and then came for me.

I braced myself and caught him as he tried to hold me down. I flipped him over, throwing him into the ground, but he tripped me and then threw me back into a tree. Suddenly, much more important than winning or losing, a delicious mouthwatering smell saturated the clearing. Both our heads snapped up at Athenodora who now had blood dripping down her arm. While Piero was still stunned, I knew exactly why Athenodora had done this.

I tackled Piero to the ground, he barely was in control enough to put up a fight, and dismembered him. It was, dare I say it, too easy. I started a fire and found a strange delight in being able to bury his ashes. After this was done, I turned to Athenodora who hadn't made a sound and appeared to be in shock. If it were anyone else, her blood would have distracted me, but I was concerned and her well-being is what distracted me.

"Are you okay, love?" She lay motionless on the ground and I supported her in my arms. A couple minutes passed and finally her eyelids fluttered.

"What did you say?" she stammered. I thought back at what had asked her but found nothing wrong with it.

"I asked if you were well," I said softly, wondering if my cold skin was helping or hurting her.

"No, I mean," she paused, her gray eyes now alert, "what did you _call_ me?"

"I—I don't remember," I was confused why this was so significant, and I was too concerned with her health to think straight. Also, I wanted to know how she knew blood would distract us, that meant she knew what we wear and that would define everything else.

"You called me 'love'," She said, looking at me with piercing eyes.

"Oh," I murmured, "I suppose I did."

"Did you mean it?" she asked. I didn't reply; I didn't know the answer. "Tell me what you're thinking." I smiled, I could answer that question.

"I'm thinking that I don't want you to know what I'm thinking." She laughed,

"Why?"

"Because, I'm afraid it will scare you," I said truthfully.

"Tell me," she ordered, closing her eyes. The silence that stilled the clearing made my answer that much more distinct.

"I'm thinkimg that…" I wasn't sure I could continue.

"That…" she prompted.

"I love you."

The silence following my words was present throughout the entire clearing. "What are you thinking?" I asked, trying to fill in the silence and figure out her response to my words. As of yet, her eyes were still closed, and they were my best book into reading what she was feeling.

"I'm thinking whether I should trust you," she said. "I know what you are and…" I leaned over her, delighting in the fact that her eyes were still closed.

"Trust me," I whispered in her ear and then kissed her neck. Her eyes opened and she turned her head to fully face me. With this new angle, I was able to kiss her full lips, and I did. To my surprise, she kissed me back; and that made me happier than words could describe.


	5. Chapter 5

Problem

Leaving Athenodora in Rome was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do, and even then it was still under the condition that I would return. Being back at Volterra brought on a bittersweet feeling because I was away from Athenodora, but with family; and that eventually my family would learn exactly why I liked Rome so much.

When I arrived in Volterra a week later, Aro was the first person to greet me; the first thing he did: offer me his hand. I stared at it for a good five minutes before refusing to give him my hand.

"I'd rather Marcus, Didyme and Sulpicia be present for my story," I stalled. Aro gave me a suspicious look before agreeing with me.

"Yes, I do tend to get ahead of myself, let us confer with our brother, shall we?" he asked, leading the way up the stairs to the communal room. On the way, Aro managed to somehow brush my skin and he immediately stopped; I knew what he was surprised about.

He didn't say a single word until we reached the room. When we entered, only Sulpicia and Didyme were present, but Marcus was on the way.

"The moon is so beautiful tonight," Sulpicia romanticized, "but so far away from its lover, the sun."

"What the hell do we care?" I snapped. Aro whirled, eyes flashing.

"Don't take out your frustrations on her," he threatened. "She didn't make you fall for a _human_."

I started so quickly I knocked over a chair. How _dare_ he insult her! It was at this point when Marcus walked into the room. He stepped inside, to be met by Aro and I fighting and yelling at each other. I had sunken into a half crouch, lip curled viciously and ready to attack Aro.

"Well," Marcus blinked, "if you're going to kill one another, at least have the decency of warning me so I can find a good seat."

"Don't worry, love," Didyme went to his side and kissed him gently, "They're just having a difference of opinion."

"Well what is the difference?" Marcus asked.

"Caius finally found someone to love," she said softly.

"His mother?" Marcus asked.

"No," Sulpicia said standing up, "A human." Marcus looked at me with complete disbelief.

"The idiot! The blundering _idiot_!" Aro threw his hands up in frustration, "not only does the girl know that we exist, but he basically _started_ the war and on top of everything, he has to fall in love!"

"I told you all," Didyme sighed, "When Caius falls, he'll fall the hardest."

"I know this is off-topic, but I disagree," Sulpicia said, "I think Marcus wins the falling contest."

"Thanks, Sulpicia," Marcus said dismissively. I went over and patted Aro's shoulder,

"Don't forget to wear your sign," I said smugly. His mouth opened to retort, and I was positive that if he didn't have such a high upbringing, more profanities than I could count would be flying from his mouth.

"Dearest Caius," he finally said, "she's not your mate until she's one of us." I thought about what he was saying, and would be lying if I said that I wanted her to stay human. So I remained silent, not really wanting to think about it.  
"Well that's later," Didyme said, glaring at Aro, "let poor Caius have a moment of peace."

"So this is really it," Aro murmured, "He's really in love."

"Very much so," Marcus said, "I can see his…bond very clearly." I wondered if he could see Athenodora's connection to me, and if he could, if he would tell me; I would never ask with such a big audience, of course. I instantly moved away from Aro, knowing he was the one who could spoil my secret desire. He noted that and jumped across the table to touch my arm.

We ended up running around the room for a good three minutes, to the entertainment of Sulpicia, Didyme, and Marcus, before I finally punched Aro in the face, giving him my thoughts. He stopped and burst out laughing, much to everyone's confusion and my embarrassment

"Well, well," he said between spasms of laughter, "look who was having dirty thoughts." Instead of lying and saying I wasn't, I changed the topic of conversation to Marcus.

"Well at least they weren't about your sister."

"It was only that _one_ day!" Marcus defended, "and they weren't _that_ bad."

"Aww," Didyme smiled and went to Marcus's side, "you had dirty thoughts about me?"

Marcus caught her in his arms and kissed the top of her head, "Yes, I did."

"That's so sweet!" she squeaked, returning his kiss. Aro and I made a strange sort of cringe from the over sweetness.

"Do you two need a room?" Sulpicia asked frankly.

"No," Didyme laughed, "but now that you remind me of _that_. We need a bed for Caius's room."

"Whoa," I said, backing away from them, "where did that come from? It's not even second base."

"_Yet_," Sulpicia grinned, "and it's always good to be prepared."

"Exactly," Didyme agreed.

"And who knows, you might be hitting home runs soon," Aro added.

"Okay, now that is disturbing," Marcus said, putting his hand in front of his face as if to cover it from Aro's pervertedness. I put my hand up and left the room, Marcus right next to me.

While walking, I debated on asking him about Athenodora's connection to me. Finally, my selfishness won and I asked him. He looked at me seriously, and asked,

"You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"She feels…" baiting me with the suspense he laughed. "Tough luck, because where's the fun if I told you?"

"What?" I asked, not really believing that he had just refused to tell me.

"Your such a hopeless romantic," he laughed.

"And so the hypocrite speaks," I replied acidly. He laughed and walked away, leaving me fuming in the middle of the hallway. It was at this point that Aro caught up with me and put a casual hand over my shoulder. "Get off me," I scowled. He chuckled, but did as I said.

"Contrary to what we were talking about before," he said, all business-like now, "but we really do need to plan our attack. If Piero knew who you were, obviously other members of his coven know about us. That leaves us a small opportunity to attack."

"We can't just go in blindly," I said, shaking my head, "we need to have some knowledge on their talents or we're sure to lose." I recalled one of the battles in my human life of invading barbarians and how my army had demolished them in only two days. It made me shudder at how quickly that battle had gone; it was just mass murder.

"Well how exactly do you plan to learn about them?" Aro asked. "It's not like we can just walk into their city and take note of everything they do."

"Actually," I said, smiling, "that's exactly what I was planning."

"A spy mission?" Aro asked disbelievingly. "Are you mad?! They already know we have an army amassed to destroy them."

"They know _we_ are," I explained, "but if we send part of the Guard that they don't know about under the excuse of joining their cause against us, then they will have no idea."

"They'll still be suspicious," Aro contradicted, "and even then, some members of the Guard can't be completely trusted." He refuted everything I said, but I didn't think there was a better way to get information from them without their knowing.

"Well then how do you suggest getting information?" I asked. Aro remained quiet and shook his head,

"I don't know," he admitted. "It just seems _too_ easy."

"Even that could work in our favor, but it will depend on who goes. You do know this means none of us could go." I said, careful of his reaction.

"Then what do you suggest, Sulpicia or Didyme go to oversee what happens?" he scoffed.

"Well, that's a possibility," I said, "but certainly not the only one."

"Didyme would be willing to go," Aro smiled, suddenly delighted at something.

"If Marcus lets her, which he probably won't. You know that," I said, Aro was acting strange about Didyme and Marcus recently.

"I'll speak to them," he assured, "go assemble the members of the Guard you think will be most beneficial to go." I watched him as he walked down the hall back up to the communal room. I shrugged I didn't always understand Aro but I knew he wanted the survival of our coven no matter what the cost. I turned and walked to the entrance and then to the guest's quarters where the new additions were residing. I paused at the doorway, listening to what was going on in every room down the hallway. I could tell that it would be absolutely useless to try to group them and categorize talents. I didn't even know what their talents were; the one who had categorized them was Marcus, so I went to go talk to him.

I ran up to the meeting room and already knew something was wrong. I could hear Marcus yelling at Aro from practically across the castle. So apparently Aro had suggested Didyme going to Romania…and as I knew would happen, that had gone over well with Marcus. I entered the room, momentarily deterring the arguing, only to be continued a second later with more volume.

"Stop!" Didyme shouted, "Stop." There was something in her voice that quieted both Marcus and Aro. "I'll go," she said simply, "and that is that."

"You can't go," Marcus pleaded with her, "it's too dangerous."

"That's enough," she put a finger to his mouth to silence him, "If I don't go then I'm putting this entire coven at risk."

"Didyme," he growled, moving her finger aside, "I don't give a damn about the rest of this coven compared to you. As long as you're with me I don't care who is in power."

"That's cute," she laughed, "I'm still going." Marcus sighed and then very slowly put his arms around her small waist,

"Well then I'm just going to force you to stay here."

"I'm still going to go," she whispered and then kissed him.

"Well give me a definite answer in the morning," I said, not bothering to waste my time putting a spy squad together if I wasn't sure whether the plan would follow through in the first place. I turned to leave but Aro called me back.

"Where are you going?"

"Rome."


	6. Chapter 6

Truth or Dare

I was surprised. Truly and honestly surprised with myself. I hadn't lasted more than four hours being away from her and finding an excuse to come back. But I was a selfish lover, and I wanted to be with her no matter what.

I jumped over the gates enclosing the city of Rome, and realized I had no idea where she lived. With an aggravated groan I went to the place I had been with her last; at my own house, surprisingly enough. So that's where I went, and decided to trace her from her scent; it was stalker-ish and rather primitive, but efficient, and if it would let me see her again, hell, I would do it.

As fate, and perhaps a bit of luck, would have it, I didn't have to trace her barely at all; she had never left my house. As a matter of fact, she was sleeping in _my _room in _my_ bed. I silently made my way to the foot of the bed and watched her, wondering what she was dreaming about. My question was soon answered when she murmured 'Caius'. I usually hated my name, but right now I was glad that I had no other. I could stand here for the rest of the night if I really wanted to just watching her.

Suddenly she sat up, looking straight at me.

"I'm dreaming."

I made no reply, still marveling at the fact that she dreamed of me.

"Well if this is a dream…" she got out of my bed and walked over to where I stood. She slowly ran her hand down my chest, never taking her eyes off me. I was now wondering if perhaps I was the one dreaming, not her; so much had happened in one week. "I don't care, I'll take it." She jumped up, putting her legs around my waist and kissed me passionately. My arms instantly formed a cage around her waist and trailed up and down her back. After a long bout of this, I slowly lowered her back onto the bed. As I straightened myself, looking down on her, her arm shot up and grabbed the collar of my clothes, pulling me down.

I could have resisted, but I didn't.

"I'm sorry," her eyes shined mischievously.

"You knew the whole time!" I laughed, shaking my head at how easy I had been fooled into thinking she was 'dreaming' the whole thing.

"I had to take advantage of the opportunity," she grinned, twirling a piece of my hair around her fingertip.

"You don't know what you're playing with," I said seriously, hoping she would heed the warning behind my words.

"Oh," she kissed the corners of my mouth, but refrained from the center. "Is that so, my vampire? My Little Death?" My body went rigid, and it wasn't because she knew what I was, but what the words "little death" meant. (I finally found out.)

"I didn't know you thought of me that way," I whispered.

"Sure you don't," she said sarcastically. "Tell me, and don't lie, if you've ever thought of me like that."

"If I've ever thought about making love to you?" I asked her, wondering where she was getting at with this. She nodded, urging me to continue. "I love you," I said, it felt awkward to say, but it was true, "and yes, I have."

"Really?" she giggled, and then turned serious, "what's holding you back?"

"A lot of things," I said, "and why do you want to know all this?"

"Kiss me and I'll tell you," she was still deathly serious. I kissed her not once, but many more times. "I suppose I have to tell you now," she sighed, looking away nervously. I ran my hand through her hair, unconsciously pulling her closer to me. "I wanted to know because I was afraid that I was the only one who wanted that."

"Rest assured," I laughed, "you're not."

"I know that now," she sighed, resting her head on my chest. Before long, she was fast asleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts about her. For awhile, I stared at her delicate neck, only inches from my mouth, and realized just how vulnerable she was. Pushing the thoughts of changing her right then and there prompted me to kiss her neck. She smiled, shifting her position and throwing an arm around my neck. In response I just held her tighter, just glad that I had her in my arms to begin with. ******

The morning seemed too quick in coming, but at last she stirred in my arms and I unwillingly loosened my hold, allowing her to get up. I knew I should be back in Volterra but had already decided that I wouldn't be returning today.

"Aren't you leaving?" she asked, sadly, but confused.

"I'm supposed to, but I can't leave you." I confessed.

"Take me with you," she said. I laughed,

"You want me to take you to a castle full of thirsty vampires. They're not all as tolerant as I am."

"Wow, then I really am dead meat there," she shuddered.

"Very funny," I scoffed, getting up from my bed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she furrowed her brow, "did I miss something? Because if you're not leaving where are you going?"

"Wherever you are," I said simply.

"In that case," a small devious smile grew on her face, and she threw herself on top of me, pushing me back down. I chuckled, I now knew what she wanted and wondered whether I would have the strength to withhold it from her. We lay back for a few minutes silent, before she asked me what I wanted the most.

"The thing I want most is…" I thought about for a good minute, "you."

"Love, I meant something you don't already have," she said, kissing me.

"Oh, so you love me now?" I asked her. My voice had a joking tone to it, but I wanted to know the answer to that question.

"Of course I do," she laughed.

"Enough to become what I am?" I asked seriously.

"I think so," she nodded after awhile, "but give me a bit of time. Does that mean no sex until then?"

"Is that all you think about?" I asked, laughing, "and yes, most likely."

"Hmm, then perhaps not so long," she wavered.

"You're impossible," I smirked, getting up. "Now for real, what do you want to do today?"

"I want to…" she paused for a minute, looking at me pensively, "Swim."

"I know just the place," I said, already visualizing the place in the river. It was beautiful, the river flowing into a waterfall, and perfectly placed in between the two was a small calm lake.

"Is it far?" she asked.

"For you it is," I admitted, "not so much for me. I'll have to carry you."

"Oh," she murmured, "if that's the fastest way. Let me get ready." She sat up and began brushing her hair, and finally plaiting it until she had one braid running down her back. "You don't have women's clothing, do you?" she asked.

"No," I shook my head, "you can borrow some of my clothes if you want."

"Okay," she said, unsure.

"Wait for me at the front door," I said, giving her a kiss before she exited my room. I went to my closet and pulled out two random large robes and then I went to join her at the front. "Ready?"

"I think so," she said.

"Good," I tried to look reassuring, and then held open my arms. I bent down a little, to make it easier for her, and then told her to carry the robes. "Hold on tight," I smiled, and then took off. It must have all been a blur to her, but I could distinguish every single thing that I ran past and halfway through the trip I was forced to slow down due to her kissing my neck. "You keep that up and you're going to make me run into a tree." She laughed but stopped and I resumed running. I glanced down at her once and noticed her eyes squeezed shut. "Get ready," I said.

"What?" she asked, but I didn't reply to her, for we were sailing through the air and a second later we were in the water. I resurfaced first, and then looked around for her, but she didn't come up. I dived down, and found her struggling close below the surface, and then I helped her up. It was clear she didn't know how to swim.

"Are you crazy?" I asked, "You want to swim but you don't know how?"

"I was hoping you would teach me," she said softly. Her hair had come undone from the run and now looked like a halo surrounding her face.

"Teach you?" I laughed, "I'll try." She was looking at me with a confused look now, and I wondered what could possibly unnerve her.

"Caius, you're…sparkling."

"What?" I asked, not comprehending, "oh, right. It's how our skin reacts to sunlight." She looked at me, awed for awhile before turning over and floating on her back. At least she could do that.

"You know," I said, floating right next to her, "if I think you're drowning I'll have to do CPR."

"You would do CPR even if I wasn't drowning," she laughed. She stretched out her hand and I caught it within my own, squeezing slightly. She squeezed back and asked, "Do you want to play a game?"

"Which?"

"Truth or Dare."

"Isn't that a children's game?" I asked.

"Yes, and?"

"No matter," I shrugged, "it's just that, well, nothing." She gave me a look before speaking again.

"Truth or dare?" she asked.

"You choose," I said.

"Okay," she grinned, "What's the one thing you never expected to do, but are glad you did?"

"Easy," I replied, "falling in love with you. At first I wasn't sure if I really was, it's not common for my kind to fall for humans, but I'm glad I did." She tried to turn on her side to look at me but ended up sinking so I held out her arms, making sure she stayed above the surface.

"You weren't sure, huh?" she narrowed her eyes, drifting closer to me and latching her legs across my waist. "How about now?" She kissed me, "and now?" she kissed me again, and again and again. Suddenly, she leaned precariously up and we toppled over to the side. She let out a slight squeal and I laughed before diving under to get her.

"Very graceful," I complimented. She ignored me and tried to get away; it was…futile. "Let me show you," I said, making her flatten out, parallel to the surface of the water. "Good, now stretch out your arms and legs, pushing the water under you in different strokes, timing your arms and legs so you can go faster."

"Caius!" she screamed when she tried to move forward, and instead breathing in water.

"Don't worry, I'm here," I assured, "I have my arms right under you." She coughed a bit, but a determined look came into her eyes and she tried again. Slowly, as she got the hang of it I began to move my arms away, until she was swimming all by herself. She swam halfway to the shore and then turned around.

"I'm doing it!" she smiled, jumping around, "I'm swimming!"

"Congratulations!" I called out to her. She got out of the lake and laid down in the soft grass at the edge.

"By the way, it's your turn!" She said.

"Truth or dare?" I called out to her, loud enough for her to hear.

"Truth."

"Okay," I fell silent, thinking of what I wanted to know about her. "What something about you that you don't want me to know?" She laughed nervously,

"Pass."

"No," I chuckled, "I want to know this one."

"Fine," she scowled, "I was going to make you do a dare. The dare was for you to make love with me."

I was speechless. She was right; I_ should_ have passed that question. In any case, it was her turn to ask me.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare," I decided to do something different.

"Do something you would never do."

"You'll like this," I murmured, and got out of the lake so I was right next to her. "May I have this dance?"

"That's something you would never do?" she giggled, "dance?"

"Just say 'yes' or 'no'," I said, embarrassed. She nodded and took my hand. I put my arms around her waist and we swayed gently from side to side.

"You know," she whispered, "for someone who doesn't like to dance, you're very good at it." I smiled but didn't reply, just genuinely enjoying having this moment with her. "It's your turn," she finally said.

"Truth or dare?" I asked, lying down on the ground, the sun reflecting off my skin until she lay on top of me.

"Dare," she said. Suddenly, a very different, daring type of action came into my head.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes."


	7. Chapter 7

Additions

So it was decided that Athenodora and I were married. There was barely any ceremony, just a simple statement of promises to always be faithful to one another.

After our 'ceremony', we went to my house where I convinced her that a honeymoon of the type she wanted might get her killed, so she settled for major kissing, (I know that sounds weird, but I don't know any other way to phrase that) not that that was any different from what we usually did. Often times, when we would simply lie side by side I would murmur comforting things to her. It was a way of keeping up conversation and being with her.

"Why do you keep calling me Athenodora?" she asked, looking at me curiously.

"Isn't that your name?" I asked, confused why she was asking.

"No, it is, it's just that it's so bulky most people call me Dora."

"Well that's stupid," I said, playing lightly with her hair, "They should call you Athena, like the goddess. That's what I'll call you from now on. My Athena…"

"Most people don't like calling me the name of the goddess," she said.

"Well most people are stupid," I reasoned, "and you're my only idol."

"You know so much about me," she said, stroking my cheek, "but I feel like I don't know anything about your past."

"How can you not know about Rome's Holy Emperor?" I asked.

"You?!" she asked, both shocked and finding it comical. "You're Gaius Julius Cesar?" (his real name! I had no idea with the whole Gaius—Caius thing! But it works!)

"Yes," I affirmed, wondering whether it was a good thing or bad thing that she knew.

"Well, now I know practically everything about you!" she said. I wasn't about to contradict her; it was probably better she thought that. In the silence after her statement I heard a very familiar sound; that of a vampire running, and a vampire I knew: Aro.

"Get dressed!" I told her, jumping out of bed, whirling into my closet and throwing on whatever was closest and then running outside to stall Aro and give Athena some time to get ready.

"Brother," Aro clapped my shoulder, and I was glad that the cloth there prevented him being able to read my thoughts. "Well, I hope you've enjoyed your time here because everyone back in Volterra is furious at you."

"I _have_ enjoyed my time here," I assured. "Now, why have you come?" We slowly walked towards the entrance to my house.

"First and foremost to see if you were alive, although technically you're undead so does that really make you alive? Movement and all bodily functions as well as blood—" Aro rambled.

"Aro!" I called him out of his whole technical talk, "Not that vampirism isn't just _fascinating_, but get to the point."

"Ah, yes," Aro continued, "and secondly I need your help to save the twins I told you about earlier.

"They've finally been convicted of witchcraft and sorcery so they're going to be burned at the stake in about two hours." He said it so casually it sounded almost ironic. "You're help would be most delightful." Towards the end of his sentence, I heard the light human footsteps of Athena walking towards us. Aro heard them too and we both fell silent, making the footsteps louder. Once she rounded the corner, and she was visible to both of us she continued walking forward until she was right next to me. I kissed her cheek softly and put my arm around my waist.

"Athena, this is Aro. Aro, this is my wife Athenodora," I introduced them.

"So this is the lovely Athenodora that's been driving Caius crazy," Aro smiled, kissing her hand. If only she knew what Aro was receiving from this gesture, by the look on Aro's face, he seemed surprised by something in her thoughts. He let go of her hand and then said something to me so low that only I could hear it.

"The Romanians already know she's here and her connection to you. If you leave her here unprotected she'll be vulnerable." I glanced at her slightly, wondering exactly what Aro was suggesting.

"Volterra?" I asked, "You want me to bring her to Volterra?"

"It'll be the safest place for her," Aro shrugged.

"How is putting a human in a castle full of vampires, safe?" I asked.

"Because, Caius," his voice was condescending, "there she'll have vampires protecting her; here she has nothing." I didn't want to take her back to Volterra but I could see the logic in his words.

"Athena," I said to her softly, "Do you want to meet my family?" Her gray eyes already told me she was afraid, but she knew there was a good reason behind my question.

"Sure," she lied, "I'd love to."

"Excellent," Aro clapped, "Sulpicia is waiting outside to take her to Volterra while we save the twins."

"Sulpicia?" Athena asked.

"My wife," Aro clarified, leaving to give us some privacy; strange of him, but I wasn't complaining.

"She'll show you around," I explained, "and she won't harm you. Also, if any vampire there gives you some trouble, scream for Marcus, he's most likely to help you. You'll probably meet his mate as well. Didyme is…well, you'll see." I was rushing my words, hoping she was able to understand. She laughed,

"You know, worrying isn't good for your complexion," she said.

"I always have to worry about you," I said, "maybe that's why I'm going prematurely grey. But that's irrelevant, promise me you'll be safe."

"I promise," she whispered, suddenly jumping and curling her legs around me, then kissing me. I put two restraining arms around her waist, slowly pulling her back to the ground.

"Love you," she said fiercely.

"Love you too," I chuckled.

"I'll miss you," she said sadly.

"I won't be away long," I promised and led her outside. Sulpicia practically pounced on her with introductions and explanations. Athena was obviously overwhelmed by Sulpicia's beauty; anybody would be. Sulpicia was utterly and devastatingly gorgeous, Didyme was beautiful, Athena was too, but they were nothing compared to Sulpicia. The catch was that Sulpicia's beauty both enticed and terrified men, while Athena and Didyme only enticed.

"Ready?" Aro asked, distracting me.

"Yes," I sighed, and we began to run. After ten minutes we could hear strange chanting, and could smell smoke.

"It's starting early," Aro hissed, speeding up and finally we were out of the forest and in the town. It all happened so fast that the villagers still had no clue what had happened. While Aro was killing the villagers I went to the flaming pyre and unbound the two children tied there. They were so badly burned that I already knew treating their wounds would be futile, they would have to be turned immediately. I bit the girl first, and then the boy. Their burns must have been so painful that their thrashing and screaming didn't increase once they were bitten.

"Aro!" I called, gesturing to leaving the village.

"You go," Aro said, "the people here have already seen." I knew what that meant; everyone in the village was going to become a martini for Aro. Good thing it was a small village, I did actually pity the people a bit, but not too much. Instead, I focused on running to Volterra, while carrying the two screaming children. I was grateful that the path I was taking was empty; I was sure to attract attention of it were full.

The end result was that it made me reach Volterra much faster than I thought and before long Aro was there as well. He watched over his precious new acquisitions while I sought out my 'wife'. The first place I checked was my room, and while I did not find her there, something that had definitely not been there before was not present: a bed.

Sulpicia and Didyme are impossible. But, putting that thought aside, I was pretty sure that Athena was with them. I left my room and went to Sulpicia's room, she wasn't there, I went down to Didyme's room, Marcus was there but not Athena, where the hell was she? I ran circles around the castle, still not finding her. Why had I left her in the first place? Right, because Aro wanted power, and Aro always got what he wanted, no matter what the cost.

I started running larger circles around the castle, up to five miles away before I finally found her.

"Athena!" I shouted, stumbling to a stop in front of her.

"You're back!" she smiled, getting up.

"I've been looking all over for you," I said, reaching for her hand.

"Well, you found me," she said, sitting back down. I looked around, not taking notice before of where we actually were. She was sitting at the edge of a cliff overlooking the valley, and the city it contained, below. I sat down next to her, and watched her as she fell into my lap. "I met Marcus, Didyme, and many others."

"And?" I asked, curious to what she thought of them.

"They were all very welcoming," she said plainly; I knew something was bothering her.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It's just that," she looked down, "well, everyone there is so…pretty, and funny, and I'm…not." I laughed so hard that she began to cry.

"No, no, no," I smiled at her, "don't cry, love, it's just so terribly ironic. You, who are more beautiful than some vampires I know and you think you're not pretty enough." She looked at me with a tearstained face, and I kissed the tears away. "And I'm not anything special either. I'm not as romantic or emotional as Marcus, or as cunning and funny as Aro, but that doesn't mean I love you any less. It's you being you that makes everyone love you."

"See?!" she pouted, "I'd never be able to say anything like that!"

"You keep that up and you won't be able to say anything at all," I smirked.

"What?" she asked, confused. I kissed her, making it very difficult for her to say anything at all.

"Now," I whispered in her ear, "no more self pity or I'll have to quiet you again." She smiled,

"In that case, I like pity."


	8. Chapter 8

Limits

I was somehow able to make her happy again and she agreed to go back to Volterra. I gently picked her up and carried her all the way to the castle and even up to my room

"Oh, and just so you know, don't lie to me ever again," she said.

"Excuse me?" I asked, totally surprised.

"Oh don't act like you don't know," she sneered, "you told me you didn't have a bed in your room."

"There wasn't," I said evenly, "until Sulpicia and Didyme put one in there while I was away."

"Oh," she blushed, "well I still mean what I said."

"I know," I kissed her forehead, "and I keep my word all the same. But, I can renew my promise if you want."

"Okay," she agreed, though I could tell she was unsure as to what I was talking about. I leaned close to her and took her hand in mine.

"Athenodora," I paused slightly, "I promise to never lie to you, no matter what the circumstances are." She giggled at how overdramatic I was being, but I still meant my words; and I was _usually_ very good at keeping my promises.

"I don't deserve you," she muttered, frowning. Her lips formed the perfect pout and I resisted the urge to kiss her only because I knew that it really was the other way around; I didn't deserve _her_. I was by no means a saint, I was just…plain, really, no special attributes, but perhaps that's what drew us together. We loved each other for who we really were. While thinking on the many reasons that _I_ didn't deserve _her_, a strange rumbling sound suddenly filled the silence. We both looked down at her stomach, the source of the noise. There was a shocked silence for about five seconds before she covered her perfect face with her hands from embarrassment.

"Oh, you must forgive me," I said, taking the blame, "my selfishness of you made me forget your human needs. Of course you're hungry; I'll take you out to dinner, if you want."

"I want that very much," she smiled, the redness slowly fading away from her cheeks, "thank you."

I stood up, scooping her in my arms, and then ran all the way back to the castle. Even once we were there I didn't put her down, but instead I carried her all the way to my room, where she could change, and then back downstairs. Unfortunately, we encountered Aro on the way downstairs, Sulpicia right beside him. I sighed; I had such bad luck.

"Where to?" Sulpicia asked me.

"Dinner." Sulpicia gave me a curious look as to why I would be eating my new bride until I clarified that it was dinner for her, not me. Just as that conflict was resolved Marcus appeared down the stairwell and immediately turned away; mistaking me carrying Athena for something else.

"Caius! Keep it in your pants!" Everyone stared at him in shocked silence for a good five minutes. He slowly turned to face us and "oh," escaped from his lips. "My apologies."

"Pervert," Athena whispered to me, but every vampire could hear a human whisper.

"Well," Aro conveniently switched topics to something less lucrative. "If you two have dinner plans, perhaps I can help."

"Don't listen to him," I whispered to Athena, turning to leave the castle.

"No, no!" Aro called, "it's a great new invention of mine called _pasta_."

"And I made something called _pizza_!" Sulpicia added, sharing her husband's joy in spontaneous Italian culinary arts.

"Pasta?" Athena asked, voicing my thoughts, "Pizza?"

"Would you like to try some?" Aro asked.

"Umm," Athenodora murmured nervously, "how bad can it be?"

"Bad," I nodded, "very bad." She laughed and took my hand before leading me back to where Aro and Sulpicia stood.

"I'd love some," she smiled. I groaned while Aro and Sulpicia laughed and Marcus simply stood there staring at us with a disbelieving face. Didyme came running down the hall and jumped straight into Marcus's arms and from there things just 'took off'.

"Oh, and he tells me that I'm over the top," I scoffed, "I can't even _do _that."

"So you've told me," Athena narrowed her eyes, and then subtly changed her look to be more seductive, "but I'm starting to have my doubts." I laughed,

"Oh, are you now?" I asked, leading her over to Aro until he delicately touched her hand. "Is she?"

"Hmm," Aro prolonged the silence, "Well there are quite a few things that are worth noting…" he smirked.

"What is he talking about?" Athena asked.

"Oh," I laughed, "I forgot to tell you. Aro reads minds, but in order to he needs physical contact."

"What?" she screeched, taking her hand back instantly. "My thoughts are _private_! How _dare_ you intrude upon my mind."

"Calm down, love," I whispered, squeezing her hand, "he was just teasing me; he wouldn't actually say your true thoughts."

"He _better_ not," she growled. Aro looked at her, as if to reevaluate her character, which was probably a good thing. He had no idea how viscous she could get when she was angry, it was almost _scary_. I preferred her not knowing our significance in the vampire world, as well as the whole revolution business.

By this time Marcus and Didyme had separated and were paying attention to the conversation.

"There's a slight red," Marcus said much too quietly for Athena to hear, which was a good thing since it was about her. I knew exactly what he meant; in my relationship with Athena, there was a small portion of red. What did red signify? Lust. I didn't know what to make of it; it actually stunned me for a second. Then, it hit me that I didn't really want to know; there had to be a certain amount of unknown in a relationship.

I shoved everything that had just happened out of my mind and focused on my primary concern: Athena.

"So, what exactly do you want to eat?" I asked her.

"The…_pasta_," she said. I smiled, knowing she would pick the risky choice.

"As you wish," I sighed, hoping Aro had prepared his new "dish" well because if it somehow harmed her I would personally kill him.

"So we'll be having pasta for dinner," she confirmed. More specifically _she_ would be having pasta for dinner, but I didn't want to correct her on such a small technicality.

"Excellent!" Aro bounced around happily.

"He is always like this," I assured her, for someone who didn't know it could scare them. I then wondered who I could leave her here with so that I could go prepare a nice dinner for her; with candles and formalwear and whatnot. It was only then that I finally accepted that she was my entire life now, and because of that, I was willing to do anything for her. She was my wife…it was a very unofficial-ish statement, and I knew one day we would have a proper wedding and ceremony but I was pretty sure that wouldn't come for a long time.

I didn't know which was worse, leaving Athena with Sulpicia or Didyme. I took a risk and decided to leave her with Didyme.

"Stay here," I whispered to her and walked over to Marcus and Didyme who were thankfully free at the moment. I quickly explained things to Didyme, though Marcus heard everything, and she kindly agreed.

"He's even being all romantic for her," Marcus jibed. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Well at least we don't have R rated public displays of affection."

"True…" Marcus agreed, laughing and glancing at Didyme who giggled. "But that's only because she's human. I can see your connection to her as well. Remember when I said her connection to you was partly red, well yours is too, but that wasn't really relevant to the question."

"Ooh, Caius," Didyme said sarcastically. "You naughty boy."

"Listen," I growled, "I don't care what you think of me, or her for that matter, just promise me you'll protect her."

"I will," Didyme agreed, knowing I was serious now. Marcus, however, had no intention of letting the subject of the limitations of my human/vampire relationship letting go.

"Caius I bet you can't do this!" he laughed, and proceeded to kiss Didyme up and down her neck. It was almost a slight nibble; still putting venom in her but not enough to cause pain or anything. Again, something that I couldn't do with Athena…

"Marcus," Athena said, surprising everyone, even me. "Why don't you just shove it up your ass if you can't keep it in your pants and get a room." Marcus looked at her as if she had just slapped him, while everyone else laughed hysterically.

"That's my girl," I said, and smiled smugly. She laughed and reached for my hand which instantly closed around hers. "Now, you're going to stay here with Didyme," I told Athena. "If Marcus bothers you tell me and I'll punch him for you."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"You'll see," I smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

"Good," she smiled. "I'm counting on it." She went on her toes to kiss me and our lips meant. I was about to pull away since she was still human and I hadn't quite mastered total control yet. She however, had no intention of that; partly to show Marcus that while we were limited in some areas, not so much in others. I decided to go with her on this one because one: Marcus definitely deserved to eat his words, and two: well, I don't think I could stop.

She made me back up against the wall with no escape. Once she had that vantage she jumped and curled her legs around my waist, clinging to me with her arms around my neck. Not only to support her, but because I wanted her my hand curled around her back, slightly going under her shirt. "Careful," I whispered.

"I trust you," she whispered back. I took comfort in that and I kissed her more passionately until I finally, unbearably, gently held her back. She grinned, gave me one last peck and then lowered herself until she walked over to Marcus.

"Take that."

"That _is_ rather hard to beat," Marcus replied, grinning and then her turned around and doubled what we had just done, but with Didyme.

"When did this turn into a contest?" Aro asked.

"Can we participate?" Sulpicia asked. Aro looked at her and whatever expression was on his face clearly said "no". I sighed, and nodded to Aro.

"Make sure she's safe." I turned around and left, still reeling from what had just happened.

"Love you!" Athena called down the hallway.

"Love you too," I replied, smiling as I walked away from the castle.


	9. Chapter 9

Dinner

At first, it took me awhile to think of something she would like as a setting for dinner, but then, the perfect idea hit me. The beach. I would set up something nice at the beach and then bring her there, along with Aro's food.

Before leaving to prepare things, I gathered all the materials that I would need and checked with Aro and Sulpicia who were 'cooking'. After I made thing sure everything in the castle was in order, I left for the beach. Once there, I began to clear a spot of white sand from fallen branches, leaves, rocks, and other natural debris. Then, I unfurled a blanket and laid it atop the space that I had cleared. I set down candles in a loose perimeter around the blanket, and even a few hanging from branches of overhanging trees.

I knew it wasn't nearly as good as Aro or Marcus could make it, but that wasn't the point, it was suited for us. The last thing I brought to the beach was the food which Aro and Sulpicia had so carefully prepared. Then, finally, I went to bring Athenodora herself. I waited for her at the entrance to the palazzo but was greeted instead by Didyme.

"Caius," she grinned, "she's almost ready."

"Ready?" I asked, not quite sure what she was implying.

"Well," she bit her lip, "we decided to make Athenodora all pretty with—"

"Make her all pretty?" I accused, "She doesn't need that, she's beautiful as she is."

"I know that," Didyme said defensively, "but we wanted to try something new so now was the perfect opportunity. Don't be mad," she said, noticing my scowl, "Athenodora looks…well, you'll see."

"Yes, I will." I agreed, hearing the footsteps of Athena and Sulpicia coming towards us. I wasn't nervous…but as she neared, almost to the point of coming down the stairs, I _did_ suddenly become nervous. A feeling of 'I'm not good enough' washed over me but Didyme made it go away, replacing it with sheer joy and happiness.

But when Athena rounded the corner, it didn't matter how hard Didyme was trying to make me happy; I was in awe of my wife, and completely speechless. It seemed impossible that such beauty could belong to a human, and as a vampire I knew there was definitely danger to that, because I _wanted _her. Not only did her succulent scent saturate the room, but her entire being seemed to tempt me.

She was wearing a light dress, it flowed over and around her like water, reflecting her beauty, and her face…there was no words to describe.

"Caius," she said nervously, slightly unsure at my lack of words. I held my hand up to silence her; I needed to bask in her perfection for at _least_ a minute more.

"Told you you'd blow him away," Sulpicia whispered in Athena's ear. She blushed and simply kept staring at me, waiting for some sort of audible reaction. Suddenly without warning, I ran up to her, picked her up and kissed her. It was selfish, but she couldn't tempt me like that and expect no reaction from me!

"Sorry," I whispered in her ear after regaining control of myself.

"It's okay," she murmured, "as a matter of fact, I rather enjoyed it." Sulpicia and Didyme shared a knowing glance; they _definitely_ knew what that was like. Unfortunately, I had been around when Aro found Sulpicia and Marcus Didyme…there were several accidents that left me scarred for life.

"Well, going back to the original plans," I said, "are you ready for dinner?"

"Yes." I opened my arms, allowing her to climb in however she wanted but instead she scowled at me. "You know, all this carrying me around is making me feel weak and useless."

"You _are_ weak," I said gently, picking her up anyway. "Just tell me when you're ready to run alongside me and I'll change you. I'll wait," I assured her, kissing the top of her head, "after all, I have forever."

"_You_ do, _I_ don't."

"All you have to do is tell me," I shrugged. She didn't reply, so I took it as my cue to leave. I did, however, thank Sulpicia and Didyme before I left.

I ran with Athena through Volterra, Venice, Milan, and finally past Rome before reaching our destination. It only took ten minutes, but it wasn't the time that worried me, it was that Athena was silent throughout the entire trip. I gently set her on her feet once we reached the clearing and then sat down across from her. I waited for her to say something, but only met silence.

"What's wrong?" I finally asked.

"Did you mean it? Did you mean what you said?"

"About waiting to change you until you were ready?" I asked. "Of course."

"But what if I'm never ready?" she asked, worried. "I mean, I love you, you know that, and I don't think I could love you any more than I already do, but what if there is something that I'm missing, something more I could do for you while I'm still human?" I thought about what she said, understanding how it must feel to keep someone you loved waiting while not sure of the correct decision.

"Don't you think what you just said signifies what you want?" I asked her. "There's positively nothing more I could do with you as a human, but as a vampire, well, there are _other_ things that would become possible."

"So if I asked you to change me right now, would you?" She asked. I nodded, wondering if maybe _I_ was the one who wasn't ready. "Then change me." I stared at her, shocked for a second and then leaned over to her, gently exposing her neck. I could feel her heartbeat racing, and was almost lured into breaking the shallow membrane of her skin, but instead gently pressed my lips against it, kissing her neck all the way up to her lips. "You didn't bite me," she said.

"I didn't want Aro and Sulpicia's food to go to waste," I grinned.

"_Fine_," she said, trying to hide a smile, "but you owe me."

"What would you like your payment to be?" I asked, curious for her answer.

"Sexual favors will be fine," she said. (Shout out to My Sister's Keeper!) I sighed, so Didyme and Sulpicia had already corrupted her.

"Very well then," I said seriously, "I will repay you with sexual favors. But for now, just eat your dinner." She laughed, but began to eat the stringy 'pasta' that I had served for her. The sun was just beginning to set, casting a warm ray of light in our direction.

"Aren't you hot?" She asked, taking off her shawl.

"Not really," I said, but to make her feel comfortable removed my shirt anyway. It took me awhile to realize that she was staring at me sparkling; which I had forgotten about. "Does this entertain you?" I asked, slightly entertained at her fascination. She nodded, still staring at me. "I'm going to have to put my shirt back on if this distracts you too much." I joked. She laughed and went back to eating her pasta.

"You know," she said, "this stuff isn't that bad. It's actually good." I was only slightly disappointed that I couldn't bug Aro about it later but mostly happy that Athena liked it. She swirled the pasta strands around her fork, accidentally splattering both of us in the red sauce. "Well, now you look more like a vampire."

"Wonderful."

She laughed and leaned over towards me. Instead of kissing me first as she usually did, she removed the pasta from my face and _then_ kissed me. I couldn't decide if I was more stunned or pleased, and then realized that I didn't care which one it was. She ate the rest of the pasta and a tiny portion of pizza before she said she was full. She lay back in the sand, staring up at the now dark sky.

"Do you ever wonder about the stars?" she asked dreamily.

"Yes."

"What do you wonder about?"

"A lot of different things, but mostly they remind me of you." I wasn't usually the one to pour out my feelings, but for some reason I could when I was Athena…I was pretty sure that reason was love.

"How?" She asked curiously.

"Well, they're beautiful little things in such a dark sky, and if you really pay attention they can move…shooting stars. They leave a slight trail of light behind them and it's something you never forget because it's so fascinating and graceful and beautiful; things I consider you to be."

"What about when the night is cloudy and the stars are blocked?"

"That's the best thing," I said, "as a vampire, with our powerful eyes you can always see the stars."

"Well, if I'm your stars then you're my night," she said, "after all, stars are only visible at nighttime. We bring out the best in each other."

"I like that," I said, I hadn't ever thought of us that way but it was true.

"Me too," she whispered, crawling over to where I was and putting her head in my lap. In that moment, it seemed like everything in the world was perfect, and that no other man was happier than me.

After what seemed like hours she stood up before me and took out her hair from the intricate style Sulpicia had put it in. It hung loose around her face, like a halo, and then she slowly undid the ties that bound her dress together. Slowly, but impossibly fast at the same time, her dress fell off her body, sliding to a shimmering puddle at her feet. Her pale skin glowed in the dark surroundings, and I remembered the amazingly different circumstances on which I had seen her naked body at Valentino's house.

"Swim with me," she whispered before running out into the water. I heard a splash as she dived into the cold ocean water just as I stood to go follow her. I shrugged out of my heavy robes and was engulfed by the cold water. Even for me I could tell the water was cold, I wonder how she managed. I looked around for her, darkness wasn't a problem, but the distortion of water was proving to be quite difficult. In any case, I walked deeper into the ocean, already chest deep. With minimal splashing she bobbed up right next to me; breaking the surface of the calm water. I looked down at her, marveling at how the water formed liquid diamonds running down her skin. She was looking at me in the same way, but marveling at something unknown to me.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked, remembering the frigid water temperatures. She pressed herself against my body.

"No."

"You trust me way too much to stay in control around you," I said, trying to slow my thoughts in order to concentrate on keeping her alive this very moment. "Not to mention that I don't succeed very often."

"Is that something we can test?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, "Your self control?"

"Maybe," I said, kissing her pouting lips, "but I have something for you first." We walked out of the water and back to where I had set up the blanket and candles. I put my robes back on and handed her a furry blanket to warm her up. Then I brought out a small velvet pouch from under the blanket and let two sparkling metal objects fall out onto my open palm.

"Rings?" she asked.

"Not just any rings," I said, "but Claddagh rings." I could tell by the confused look on her face that she was lost. "When I was human, before being emperor, the village I came from used these rings as a sign of devotion, love, and friendship. Parents would hand them down to their children so that when they found their true love they would exchange rings. I never married nor found true love back then so I still have mine, and I haven't had a reason to give one to anyone…until now." I reached out and took her small hand within mine, sliding the smaller ring on her left ring finger; heart pointing towards her body. "The hands stand for friendship, the crown for loyalty, and the heart for love. If you wear the heart pointing towards you it means you're special to somebody."

She looked down at her hand in disbelief, and then slowly up at me before taking my hand and sliding the ring on my ring finger as well. "Because you're special to me," she said, "and you already shine like diamonds."

"You're worth more than diamonds," I said, and honestly believed my words. Diamonds were currently very expensive, but all the diamonds in the world combined had nothing on my Athena.

"So is this like a wedding ring?" she asked.

"No," I replied, "it's simply a gift. Our wedding rings will be much better."

"That's hard to believe considering these are practically perfect."

"_You're_ perfect," I whispered. She looked at me with her wide eyes and I couldn't help but smile. I didn't realize what I had been missing out on; I loved her more than anything, _anything_. "Come here, my angel." She smiled and crawled over, tossing herself right on top of me. I chuckled and put my arms around her, kissing her neck.

We remained this way for a long time, until I realized that she was asleep. My fingers gently combed through her hair, and I gazed at her face, trying to memorize every millimeter of it. Her breathing was even and I knew she wouldn't wake if I moved. Slowly, I laid her back against the blanket and stood up. I knew now would be as good a time as any to go hunt; she would have no idea if I left.


	10. Chapter 10

Vampire

I was only about three miles away, and it had been about ten minutes that I had been away when I heard her scream my name. I dropped the villager I had been drinking in my arms and ran back to where she was in less than a minute.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, taking her shaking form into my arms. It took her a minute to quiet down in my arms before she was ready to talk.

"I thought you left me," she stammered. "When I woke up, you weren't here and…"

"I would never leave you," I said, "I promise."

"You better not," she threatened, "I couldn't possibly live without you."

"You took the words from my mouth," I said, pleased that I had made her stop crying and shaking.

"I love you," she said randomly, after a minute of silence.

"I love you too," I said slowly, meaning every single word. For every word I said I gave her a kiss…as well as a kiss for the many words I hadn't spoken.

"So," she murmured, "what exactly were you doing?"

"I was…having dinner," I knew it would be pointless to lie, and sooner or later she would have to understand and face what I was.

"Who was the victim?" she asked.

"I don't know, I grabbed the first person I saw; I didn't want to be away too long in case you woke up…obviously that didn't work."

She laughed, "No, it didn't. Tell me more about your kind."

"It's not pretty," I said, momentarily wonder how she knew what I was, and then decided that now was not the time to bring that up.

"I'll be the judge of that," she said, "go on."

"Well, first and foremost, vampires drink blood; human or animal, either one works to sustain us, though animal blood isn't _nearly_ as palatable as human blood. I've tried it before, I don't recommend it. Vampires are…well, dead. We don't have a heartbeat, we don't need air to breathe, and we don't eat human food. We have heightened senses: faster, stronger, and we can see, hear, and smell better. That's pretty much it." I said, pretty happy with how I had explained it and not gone into too much detail. "Oh, and we're immortal. The only known way to kill us is to dismember and burn our bodies." She cringed a bit at the last part, but maintained a composed face.

"That's quite a change," she said. The wind picked up then, blowing a strand of hair across her face.

"Don't worry about a thing," I said fiercely, whilst putting back the strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'm here to protect you."

"Good," she murmured; and I couldn't have agreed more. We stayed like that in perfect silence, knowing there were many words unspoken between us, but understanding that they were meant for the other. At last I understood what Aro and Sulpicia, and Marcus and Didyme were doing when they would just stare into each other's eyes for sometimes hours on end.

"What time is it?" she asked, after awhile.

I shrugged, "Close to dawn."

"Does that mean we have to leave soon?" she asked, slightly frowning.

"Unfortunately, yes," I said..

"What should I tell Didyme and Sulpicia when I get back?" she asked.

"Whatever you want," I said, laughing at the endless possibilities that would keep both of them at bay; and how it would annoy them. "Tell them what really happened, or you can make it up." I smirked, "I'm sure you have a creative imagination."

"Oh," she gasped, surprised at first and then slightly smiling. "Oh…" I laughed, not needing to be Aro to know what she was thinking.

In the silence that followed, the sun began to rise, streaking the sky with a hue of blue, yellow and pink, blending them together in a misty, foggy, ceiling. We had watched the sunset, and know we were watching the sunrise; both beautiful, both eternal, both like what Athena would be. There was something so cliché about comparing people to heavenly objects, but it was hard to find something to represent a person better. For example, I had more than enough reasons to make Athena my stars, obviously a goddess (if you could consider that to be a heavenly object), or even the sun. It was quite simply, Athena, for one thing, had gold spun hair that made the strands seem to dance and sparkle in their own sunshine; a halo; an angel. She had a bright personality, and a sometimes fiery temper. And lastly, without her, my life was obsolete; she gave me, an undead being, life, just as the sun supplied the world with energy, so it's definitely safe to say: Athena is my sun. Actually, it was better to say: Athena is my everything.

If only I had the words to express my newfound revelation to Athena, but I was not Marcus or Aro, my vocabulary, though broad, was not efficient in expressing deep emotion. Then again, if I told her everything, that might scare her, so I would simply love her to the best of my ability, and I knew that would suffice.

"You're glittering again," she murmured to no one in particular but it brought me out of my Athena-related reverie.

"Sorry?" I asked, not quite sure what she was getting at.

"No, it's okay, I like to watch." Well, if that wasn't stalker-ish I didn't know what was, but my love for her didn't let me linger on that thought for long. I had to admit; I could stare at her for awhile too and not get tired, so I guess this made us even. I wonder if she would still like me sparkling once she was changed; or worse, I wonder if she would still like me. I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind, not possibly being able to think of it.

"Ready to go?" I asked, still shaken from the thought of us being apart.

"No," she grinned, "but we should." I nodded, standing up, offering her my hand to help. She got up gracefully and then I began to put away all the candles and fold up the blanket.

"Do you want to wear the dress you came in?" I asked her, holding up the watery fabric, "or your…blanket thing?"

"I'll stay with the blanket," she said, "it's a little cool anyway." I put the dress with the blanket and resumed packing. I made the load as small as possible, since I still had to carry her as well, and then let her jump into my arms. Before I could pick up anything else, she was viciously attacking me…with her lips; while her arms were so tight around my neck it made me feel the slightest pressure of a noose. It took me five seconds to get over the initial shock, and another forty to untangle her from me.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, still bewildered.

"Nowhere in particular," she shrugged, "I just like to tempt you…maybe you'll make a mistake."

"Don't think so," I smirked, "but feel free to keep trying." She laughed, and then kissed me for a few more seconds before actually getting ready to go.

"Now remember," I said in mock sincerity, "no distractions while I'm running." I didn't add on the; _if I crash then you'll probably die_.

Thankfully, we made it to the castle all in one piece, to the lovely reception of a furious Aro and Marcus. After courteously putting Athena on the ground I turned to see what they were fuming about. Before they could begin to speak, before even asked, Sulpicia and Didyme were running outside and practically pounced on Athena. The gently guided her inside, even though Didyme whispered to me, "Oh, you're in trouble now." _Then_ I paid attention to Marcus and Aro.

Aro opened his mouth to speak, and I could tell he wasn't just mad, but he was worried.

"You _idiot_!" Marcus interrupted, "Imbecile!" Now I was worried; Marcus could keep calm better than Aro could, and if he was angry, I shuddered to think what was coming.

"Well what the hell did I _do_?" I asked, still very confused.

"Last night—" Aro began, I thought he was going to ask if I had done things with Athena.

"No! I didn't have sex with her!" I shouted, not really wanting to go there. Aro and Marcus looked at me with shocked faces for over a minute.

"--Did you go hunting?" Aro finished his question, still stunned. Marcus on the other hand, was laughing hysterically and I could already hear the jokes that he would be making for millennia to come.

"Oh, hunting," I said embarrassed, "yes, I did."

"Well looks he finally _did_ something," Marcus commented.

"Shut up," I hissed, "she's human what do you expect?"

"Sulpicia was human when we married," Aro said matter-of-factly. I scowled at both of them.

"So the great Julius Cesar conquers empires, striking fear into the hearts of enemies, but he's afraid of doing one girl," Marcus analyzed, "poor Caius has cold feet."

"At least I don't have a messed up face," I said.

"I'm very handsome," Marcus defended.

"Not anymore you aren't," I sighed, and punched him in the face. Instead of hitting me back as I would have wished, he just laughed even more.

"Now _that's_ the Caius we know and love," Aro said, giving me a pat on the back. Well, on the bright side, I had somewhat calmed them down, on the downside, I had provided them with jokes of my love life for a long time to come.

"But, back to the situation at hand." Marcus said, going back to being serious.

"Yes…" Aro said, "You see Caius, apparently at your dinnertime yesterday, you didn't clean up. Villagers found the corpse; now their hunting vampires which means it will be more difficult for us to act, not only for our own, but against the Romanians."

"Well, it shouldn't be that hard to fix," I said, just get someone to claim that they purged all the vampires out from Italy. Aro and I systematically turned to Marcus.

"_Fine_," he groaned, "but you two owe me."

"Thank you," Aro said in his most overly-sweet voice. Marcus scowled and left calling for Didyme. I was quick to follow, not quite wanting to have a one-on-one conversation with Aro and all his energy. I walked down the hall, heading for my bedroom to change from yesterday's robes. I heard Sulpicia, Didyme, and Athena talking in a corner and was slightly disturbed at the snippet I heard from their conversation. It had to do with what had and hadn't happened last night…I quickly hurried past them, hoping I didn't catch any of their attention.

I changed, and then sat down at the edge of my window. For the past week I had completely shoved everything about the Romanian's out of my head while I was preoccupied with Athena. I knew I would have to tell her sooner or later, she had a right to know about complications to her safety. Though I would never push her for it, I wished she would make her decision to be changed quickly. It would just be so much _easier_ to protect her that way, and while I was thinking on her safety, I heard feral barking outside, as some ripping and tearing of vampires.

Werewolves.

Athena.

I jumped from my room and ran straight down to where I had last seen Athena, Didyme, and Marcus together. They were still there, with Aro and Marcus just arriving at about the same time I did. It was obvious that the only real danger was the liability of Athena.

"Take her!" I said, handing her to Didyme and Sulpicia. "Take her and go far away from here!" Marcus and Aro seemed inclined to disagree, but as of right now there wasn't a better, _safer_, way for our mates to leave. When Aro nodded, it was sort of an official statement that that would happen. Marcus spent no time thinking about what we had decided, by drew Didyme in his arms and kissed her forcefully. Aro kissed Sulpicia as well, but what they lacked in force, was made up by the simple sweetness that one could not put into words. Last, I turned to Athena, and kissed her ever so softly, not having the strength to look into her eyes knowing it was my fault I had left her so vulnerable.

"Goodbye," I whispered, speaking for all three of us.

"It's not goodbye," she smiled, astounding all of us with her nonchalance. "It's see you later." I actually had to smile, but Didyme picked her up and ran along with Sulpicia, so that was that.

Aro, Marcus and I all stared at each other, and then we were off, each tending to our different specialties. Marcus knew the 'new' members of the Guard so he rounded them up while I went to our already trained and existing Guard. I had no idea what the hell Aro did but he better do something good.

In less than five minutes, and only three casualties thus far, Marcus, Aro and I met up in the central corridor, where the large gold doors barred the entrance of the werewolves.

"Ready?" Aro asked.

"Ready." Marcus and I said at the same time.


	11. Chapter 11

Sacrifice

The doors would only last at most ten minutes. I knew I should have planned the defense of the castle when I had the chance, but now was not the time for regrets. We had to come with a strategy, a good one in a very short amount of time.

"Marcus," I said, "take three fourths of the new Guard and attack them from the side. You'll need numbers since our talents are useless against wolves. Aro, take the rest of them and half of our existing Guard and ambush them from behind." The commander in me immediately took control and before I knew it I was ordering everyone around.

"And you?" Aro asked, "Can you protect the inside with only half the Guard?"

"If you two do your job efficiently then there should be no problem," I said. Aro nodded, and then left, along with Marcus. I waited with half the Guard behind the doors, and before long we could hear Marcus's attack from the intruders on the side, and shortly after that, Aro attacking the wolves from behind. Even so, there were enough wolves to get past them and break down the door.

There, they were met with a lovely reception of me and the rest of the Guard. So, while the battle took awhile to end, due to the difficult nature of killing werewolves, our numbers barely suffered. What did suffer, however, was the entire front of the castle which was completely destroyed. We took account of all the Guard and found that we had only five casualties…all new members of the Guard so the loss wasn't quite so important.

We repaired what we could, but mainly were just waiting. We didn't call our wives back in case a second wave of attacks would come. Marcus helped put together a few vampires; Aro was gleaning information from one wolf he saved for that very purpose. I simply lectured the Guard on what had happened, what they had done well, and bad, but overall congratulating them. I knew firsthand how hard werewolves were to fight.

It was obvious that even though we were preoccupied, Aro, Marcus, and I thought about where I wives currently were. That question was answered soon enough when we heard the door to the back entrance fly off and two pairs of feet running at inhuman speeds down the hall. More disturbing, was the fact that one of them was screaming, rather loudly.

I left the group of vampires I was talking to and ran out to the hall. There I was met by Didyme, Sulpicia, and in a way, Athena. Aro and Marcus were quick to join us and as soon as they saw what lie before them they stepped back. I probably would have too, except it was my wife who it had happened to.

Didyme was holding Athena who was writhing in pain. It looked like a bloodbath of the worst kind.

"What happened?" I asked, not looking away from her.

"We were ambushed," Sulpicia said, answering my question but speaking to Aro. "We ran, but were slowed by carrying her, so the wolves caught up quickly."

"We couldn't do anything," Didyme murmured quietly. "And they knew, they knew all about her, her humanity, who she was mated to…" Though I listened to what Didyme said, it all seemed to blend together into a buzzing noise. Marcus finally stepped forward, analyzing Athena with me.

"Her wounds look worse than they actually are," he said. Athena was completely unconscious, I guessed from pain. Her wounds still oozed fresh blood, which under any other circumstances would have made me go crazy, but I was too concerned about her well-being to care. She had gruesome scratches on her right cheek, and several deep cuts on her stomach, legs and arms. There was blood…everywhere, smeared all over. I was surprised she was even alive…it didn't look like it.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, bowing my head to hers, knowing she couldn't hear.

"I don't understand," Marcus furrowed his brow, placing to fingers on Athena's wrist. I looked at him questioningly, but he was too concentrated to notice. "What is keeping her alive?" he asked himself. So much for the wounds being 'better than they looked'. If she should be dead that definitely didn't calm me. Venom oozed in my mouth, ready to be used to change her if the situation called for it.

Marcus was still examining her when suddenly, out of nowhere, her eyes flew open and she let out a bloodcurdling scream. Her glassy eyes held mine for less than a second before she collapsed back into silence while writhing in pain. I held her cold hand in mine, infuriated at how long Marcus was taking, yet grateful that he actually was checking.

"Oh no," Marcus gasped, interrupting my thoughts.

"What?" I asked.

"You need to change her. Right now." He picked her up and put her in my arms.

"What is it?" I asked. In response, he simply pointed to her left shoulder, where it seemed the most gruesome injury was. Her blood seemed to bubble and boil there, and the skin surrounding the wound was an assortment of colors; pale white, green, purple, black, red, clammy yellow. But I knew what this meant, one of the wolves that had ambushed them had bitten her. That _dog_ had bitten my Athena.

Then and there, just before leaning over to bite her, I made a vow to exterminate the entire werewolf species for what they had done to Athena. _Then_ I easily bit through the thin, fragile, membrane of her skin, and tasted her sweet, but contaminated blood under. I suppose the werewolf's poisonous saliva that was killing her helped me not to be lured into the temptation of sucking her dry.

After putting my venom in her neck, I bit her in her wrists, and ankles. I hated myself for adding more wounds to her already torn and broken body. At the same time, I anticipated her changing so that at last we could be together. However, as her screams grew louder and her thrashing more violent, I hated myself for wanting to bring this pain upon her for my own selfish desires.

I left Marcus, Didyme, Sulpicia, and Aro as I took Athena to my room. I laid her out on my new bed, a wonderful first time to be used if I may say, and then sat down beside her.

I whispered comforting things in her ear, yet apparently I had no calming effect, she was going through the changing process like every other newborn. Except for her, the pain was even more intensified because she had two poisons in her. The werewolf one killing her, while the vampire one would first stop the werewolf one, and _then_ kill her. No matter how many times I said I was sorry, I couldn't forgive myself for subjecting her to this.

For three days I didn't leave her side, until in the middle of the afternoon, on the fourth day, she sat up and looked over at me.

She was beautiful.

I had cleaned her up with a wet towel on the second day, not only so she would 'wake up' fresh, but because I knew inside, it felt like it was a raging wildfire. Sulpicia brought in some of her clothes and helped me get a violently thrashing newborn get in them. So know, she was the very image and likeness of a goddess, though perhaps not the one her name suggested, but more like Aphrodite.

I was absolutely speechless as to what I should say to her, so I smiled, hoping she would be the one to break the silence.

"Good afternoon," she said. She had the voice of an angel; it complimented her beauty with its melodic, hypnotic, yet attractively womanly grip it had.

"Hi," I said, at the moment not having enough IQ to say anything nicer; I was absolutely dumbstruck. "How are you?"

"Good," she glanced down at herself, "and you?"

"Speechless, well I was worried, and then well you're okay and…" I spoke much to quickly because I was nervous her this new Athena. "Sorry," I slowed down, calming myself,"Are you okay?" she asked, teasing me now.

"I can't form coherent sentences when you're around," I said truthfully. She laughed, and I lost my train of thought again, loosing myself in her musical voice. "Sorry," I apologized again, "but really, you went through probably the most painful thing you'll ever go through and you're worried about me."

"I'm fine," she reassured, "though, I suppose I'm rather thirsty but I'm not paying attention to that right now."

"We can go eat if it gets to unbearable. Tell me and I'll go with you. Just so you know, after what happened I won't be leaving you alone in awhile." I meant every word I said.

"I have no problem with that," she said evenly, though I could tell she was trying not to smile. "Really, I'm just distracted from my thirst."

"Distracted by what?" I asked.

"You," she murmured.

"Well, I feel so special," I shrugged, going along with her.

"Can I try something?" she asked, eyeing me with a semi-seductive expression.

"That'll come later," I said, "right now, your priority is not hurting me."

"I wasn't asking for _that_," she laughed, "but something else."

"Okay," I nodded, "do what you want."

"Thank you," she said, and smiled. Then she leaned closer to me and I suddenly realized what she wanted to try. She knew I wasn't quite doing everything I could when she was human so I guess this would be a test kiss.

She curled her arm around my neck and gently placed her lips on mine. She murmured something that faded into nothingness as I kissed her back, taking advantage of the fact that I didn't have to restrain myself at all. She didn't either, because she was almost…_hurting_ me. To my surprise, she was the one to end our kiss and pull away.

"Wow, I really have been missing out," she said.

"You have no idea," I agreed, standing up and taking her hand in mine, forcing her to get up with me. "Ready for your first hunt?" I asked. She nodded and walked with me down the hall until we met up with Aro, Marcus, Didyme, and Sulpicia. Upon Aro moving forward to greet Athena and I, the two small children behind them became visible.

"Hello Jane," I greeted her, "Alec."

"Hello Caius," she and her brother said at the same time.

"Hunting?" I asked.

"Yes," Sulpicia answered. "Want to come with us?"

"No," I said, I didn't want Athena's first time to be a communal event. She squeezed my hand in gratitude and I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Well, good luck," Didyme said wryly.

"Same," I said, and I left relieved that we wouldn't have to go with them. Athena and I left through the back entrance to the castle and ran through the forest surrounding Volterra.

"I just realized something," Athena murmured.

"What?" I asked.

"For once, I can run alongside you, not in your arms," she said. "I don't know which I prefer." I laughed and simply kept on running while thinking which I preferred. Halfway through the forest I stopped her.

"You won't be able to stand the scent of human blood in a city," I said kindly, "I'll bring back something for you."

"If you say so," she sighed, and leaned back against a tree. I took that opportunity to kiss her and tell her I love her. After that I ran to the city and tried to find the sweetest scent to make this more pleasant for her. Two children were playing in a dark, desolate alley and were positively mouthwatering. Before they noticed anything, I took them in my arms and ran back to where I had left Athena. I placed the young girl in front of her while I drank from the boy.

"Mamma?" the girl asked terrified, staring with wide blue eyes at Athena. Athena's face crumpled and she turned to me for comfort.

"I can't," she murmured, "I can't take her life."

"It's what we do," I said, "We need their blood to live."

"There's no other alternative?" she asked, hopeful.

"There _is_ animal blood," I said, disgusted at the very thought.

"We can live off that?" she asked.

"I wouldn't call it living," I muttered, still repulsed. Then, the girl began to cry; loud, wet sobs that broke Athena's heart. Athena took the girl in her arms and calmed the girl down until she stopped crying.

"Shhh," Athena cooed to the girl, "it's alright." I scoffed, that girl already had seen too much, she would die, if not by my or Athena's hands, but by Aro's. Then, Athena cuddled with the girl, cradling her until the girl's neck was right by her lips. I thought Athena had finally given in and decided to drink human blood, but to my surprise, when she kissed the girl's neck, it was a kiss of death, one that would seal the girl's fate for eternity. Why? Because Athena hadn't begun to drink her blood, but just injected a teensy bit of venom to change the girl.

"Are you crazy?" I asked, throwing the child out of Athena's arms.

"I want her," Athena murmured.

"That's impossible," I hissed, "she's just a child, she'll be wild and reckless."

"I think there are enough members in our coven to control her," she said.

"She'll be stuck in that form forever," I said, "She'll never grow physically into a woman, she'll want things she can never have. She'll never be able to love…capably as just a girl."

"What about the child you changed the day you left me in Volterra?" she asked, "Jane, I think was her name."

"I changed her because Aro wanted it so," I confessed, "I didn't want to change her, or her twin, they will be eternal children, never able to be taken seriously as adults even though their minds will be mature."

"Please," Athena begged, "_Please_?" She stared at me with her wide crimson red eyes and beautiful face and my resistance disintegrated.

"How can you possible expect me to refuse you when you plead with me like that?" I asked, closing my eyes to try to think without her face looming in front of me.

"Don't refuse," she said simply. I opened my eyes again, but this time stared at the six year old girl whose life had been cut short.

"If Aro demands her presence gone," I said, "I won't fight him."

"So does that mean she can stay?" Athena asked, overjoyed.

"By my part, I can't believe I'm saying this," I sighed, "yes."

"Thank you," Athena said, smiling and ran to me, giving me a tight embrace. She kissed me all over before I, using every ounce of strength I had, made her stop.

"I think this might be a little obscene for such young eyes," I said motioning to the girl who was looking at us with confused yet curious eyes. Athena laughed and moved away from me.

"You're right," she said, "I suppose we'll have to watch ourselves more carefully around our daughter."

"Our daughter?!" I screeched.

"Why, yes," Athena giggled, "are you afraid of being a father?"

"Not afraid," I contradicted, "it's just a…shock. I'm surprised; I don't think I'd make a good father."

"Don't worry, love," Athena whispered, "you have forever to work on that." I laughed, realizing that I was practically getting lectured on vampirism by a newborn; the irony was just too much.

"I suppose," I muttered. Athena went over and picked up the child that had been thrown on the forest floor and then looked up at me, smiling.

"So, have you thought of a name?"


	12. Chapter 12

Contrasts

The whole way back to the castle we thought up names for our 'daughter', but none seemed perfect enough for our little angel. Only upon entering the castle did I finally come up with a name that seemed fitting.

Andariel.

Andariel was the name of the only angel Roman's back in my day worshipped. It meant Angel of Death; its significance, however, was beyond its seemingly morose symbol. Because ancient Romans associated life with death, and life was associated with happiness, joy, serenity, knowledge, power, and love. Plus, the little girl's features shamed the looks of an angel I'd ever seen; she was absolutely perfect…she would be loved and adored…if she could be kept under control.

"What do you think about Andariel?" I asked.

"Andariel?" She asked, slightly furrowing her brow. "Like the angel of death Andariel?"

"Well, yes," I admitted, "but it doesn't exactly only connote death."

"It _sounds_ pretty," she murmured, stroking the child's hair, "Hmm Andariel?" she cooed to our child who was still writhing in pain. Writhing, but not screaming as all newborns did; she was dying, yet she made no sound, perfectly silent. Perhaps she was the Angel of Death after all. "Andariel," she nodded, and then looked back up at me, "I like it."

"Let me carry her," I said, holding out my arms for Athena to lay Andariel in them. Now that I think of it, it hadn't been too long when I carried Athena in them as well. I made an awkward cradle and was pleased to see that Andariel fit in it quite nicely. I had certainly never _ever_ planned on being a parent, but it was somewhat comforting to know that a child looked up to you and loved you; children were the most innocent of creatures, which made their blood the cleanest, purest and most palatable of any human. For this, I rarely hunted children, the only reason I had today was because first, they were the closest, and second, I wanted Athena to taste the best of the best as far as humans go.

But anyway, I knew Athena needed to feed, and she couldn't simply take Andariel with her, so I would watch her while Athena left. It absolutely broke my heart to not be able to go with Athena, but if I offered to go she would argue Andariel couldn't be left alone and then I would have to stay since I couldn't refuse her.

As I watched her glide through the open doors of the castle and briefly sparkle until reaching the soft shade of trees. It was then that I realized _she _was the reason for my being and that I _had_ to be with her right now, not to mention for the rest of forever, and that Anadriel would be perfectly fine within the confines of the castle. After all, she was beside herself with pain; she couldn't wreak to much havoc in ten minutes, could she? I didn't even answer that question.

I flew up the stairs to my room and laid her gently on my bed, kissed her forehead and then jumped out the window, in perfect time to land gently next to my wife.

"Andariel?" she asked.

I shrugged, "she won't be remembering anything at the moment." I whispered close to her ear, allowing me to kiss her neck. "Plus, I want to be alone with you. After all, she did disrupt something in the forest back there."

"Something like what?" she asked with mock innocence.

"Perhaps a demonstration will refresh your memory," I offered. She nodded as I slowly walked away from her, though never looking away. She looked slightly confused now, and I smiled a bit, liking where this would go. I growled playfully and sailed through the air, tackling her down to the ground, yet still sure that she never was actually physically hurt. We twisted in the air so that when we hit the ground, I was the buffer, and she simply lay atop me. She laughed, completely carefree.

"I don't remember that," she said, "I do remember this." She proceeded to kiss me in an almost _violent_ fashion, and we all knew I had an aggressive temper so that really wasn't a problem. "You know, you still owe me a proper honeymoon…and matrimony now that I think about it."

"I know I do," I said, "but don't fret, I won't take back my vows just because they weren't properly said."

"What do you mean?" she asked lightly.

"I mean that I'm yours regardless of the circumstances, who the witness is, or any other trivial thing." I said and kissed the tip of her nose. She giggled and it made my nonexistent heart melt.

"You know, sometimes I'm afraid you love me too much," she sighed, slightly frowning.

"Why would you ever think that?" I asked, concerned but masked that with humor. She opened her mouth, but I spoke before she could say anything. "Actually I don't want to know. And know that you're done trying to seduce me—"

"Excuse me?!" she cut me off. "I was not _trying_ to seduce you." she smiled, "You were _so_ _already _seduced."

"Fine," I chuckled, "and now that you're done _seducing _me—"

"Whoever said I was done?" she asked, cutting me off for a second time.

"You really should let me speak, it's very rude to interrupt," I tried to keep a straight face but failed.

"Oh, you love me all the same," she laughed.

"That I do," I admitted, "but you still need to hunt." I spoke the words quickly so she wouldn't possibly have a chance to interrupt. "Now, follow me," I said, getting up and then helping her to her feet though she did not need my assistance. She took my hand and followed me as I guided her towards the scent of what I thought to be some sort of large animal. I hadn't ever hunted animals so let's just say I wasn't quite perfect at the technique, I still hoped that I could show her properly though; I wanted her to have the best.

Once we were only a few meters away I let her take over; it was a newborn's instincts to hunt and I wanted her to feel like the thrill of the first hunt. Okay, that's a lie; I just wanted to watch her as she gracefully ran and took a life. It never failed to awe me that something so beautiful could kill something, and look so…_good_ and _innocent_ while doing it. I suppose it was part of the seduction of being a vampire, but there was something special about _her_; I could watch her forever and still be at a loss for words to describe her.

And I smiled. I realized that I had forever, with her, and that me happy; happier than anything that had happened prior in my life. While I was still reveling in the very thought she caught up with me and gently tapped my shoulder.

"You done daydreaming?" she asked.

"No," I said, trying to hold on to the image of Athena and I together for all the centuries to come.

"Hmm," she said lightly and paused, "too bad. C'mon!" she grabbed my hand and took of running; me right behind her.

"Where are we going?" I asked while we ran.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "I just want to run with you. It feels good."

"Which part, the running or being with me?" I teased.

"Both," she said simply, and even that simple statement contented me. We ran for half an hour before we ended up in Rome; the place where everything started. "I used to hate this city," she said, glancing at the winding streets, ramshackle houses, and sprawling marketplaces from our vantage point, shaded by trees. "I used to hate you too," she whispered quietly. Barely audible, actually, and that was quite a feat considering she was a vampire. "I was one stupid human, how did you ever fall in love with someone like me?" she asked.

"A better question," I said, pulling her into my arms, "is how could I _not_?"

*****

After she grabbed a couple more 'snacks' we ran back to the castle and after checking on Andariel we went to speak to my brothers.

"Why is there a screaming child in your room?" Aro asked, scowling.

"Obviously, he's a pedophile," Marcus snickered from the back of the room. Didyme giggled and whispered something back to Marcus. Marcus, however, wasn't like Didyme, he didn't have a small inconspicuous laugh; he laughed so loud that all attention was momentarily turned to him.

"Is there something wrong over there?" Aro asked, turning around.

"It's Marcus," I said simply, "what do you expect?"

"True," Aro nodded; that was an entire explanation balled up into one sentence.

"Oh as if you're any more mature," Marcus retorted.

"I _am_," I said frankly.

"Children," Aro hissed, taking a seat since he already knew Marcus and I were going to argue for at _least_ ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes, this time. I noticed Aro whisper something to Athena, she smiled and nodded, but otherwise let Marcus and I continue to argue. Finally, Athena came up behind me and put her delicate hand right on my chest.

"Caius," she said softly, drawing my complete attention to her and away from Marcus.

"Huh?" I asked, still in a daze.

"There you go," Athena told Aro and sat back down. I couldn't believe Aro had asked her to distract me from Marcus. Hell, I couldn't believe all she had to do was say my name to get my attention. Was it really that easy to distract me, I asked myself while Aro asked me questions on Andariel. Finally, I just touched his hand to give him all the information. He bent his head in concentration before he straightened and gave me a smug look.

"Actually Caius, you _are_ that easy to distract." Marcus was cracking up in the back as well as Didyme.

"Will both of you _grow up_?!" I asked, seriously annoyed now.

"Well," Didyme said innocently, "technically we can't." I glared at her, before I just laughed, surprising everyone.

"Come, Athena," I said, shaking my head, I couldn't let my family members get to me like that. Even _she_ looked slightly confused at my odd behavior, and she, though she knew me for the least amount of time, knew me best.

"Wait," Aro commanded. The almost unnoticeable authority that always lay behind his silky voice suddenly became very prominent. "You created an immortal child, Caius, there are consequences."

"What are you going to do, kill me?" I asked nonchalantly, but there was something in his eyes that made me believe he might actually consider that option. You see, Aro, behind all his pleasantness, energy, overt politeness, and pretty speech is power hungry. That doesn't make a for a good combination when you know Aro is smart. He is cunning, he is deceitful, and he is full of surprises, the results of that are you can never quite blame him for anything, or on that same note, you can't quite trust him on anything either.

While it may seem that I put Aro in such bad light, I knew I was right there with him, not quite as greedy as he, but close.

Aro wants power.

I want revenge.


	13. Chapter 13

Revenge

Revenge. The definition of it is simple, but the reasons for which revenge is born, is not. I already vowed my revenge on werewolves for what they had done to Athena, but after what they did to Andariel...revenge did not seem like a strong enough word for what I wanted to happen to their race.

******

I stood on the cliff edge; it overlooked the den where the dogs lived. I called to them, I challenged them to show themselves, to pay for their crimes, for what they had done to me, to Athena, and to most of all to Andariel.

A large male came out from the cave, and glanced up at me, his eyes silver as his metallic wolf blood ran through his body. He smiled when he saw me, and held up a lock of brown hair that had once been attached to the head of my precious daughter. My daughter who was now dead.

"_Daddy?" Andariel called me, with a sad look upon her porcelain face._

"_Yes?" I asked, awkwardly looking down at her, shocked by just how red her eyes were: they glowed. She looked back at me with an incomprehensible look._

"_What am I?" she sat up now, her pale arms around herself._

"_You're my daughter."_

"_Daughter," she murmured to herself, not seeming to comprehend the two ideas together. "Where's Mama?" she asked. I thought of Athena out hunting in the forest before replying._

"_Mama will be here soon. She wanted to be here, to greet you," I ran my hand through the soft caramel hair in an effort to comfort my child. "But she has brought a gift for you."_

"_A gift?" little Andariel smiled, flashing all her small white teeth._

"_Yes," I smiled, "just for you."_

He walked further out of his cave. "So you finally decided to come, vampire."

"No," I argued, "I've been here before, your own cowardice prevented you from walking outside your little home."

"Perhaps," the man shrugged in an effort to look indifferent. "But then why did you not come when the moon was out, for an even match."

"Who ever said I wanted an even match?" I hissed, "All I want is you, and all your kind exterminated."

_"Mama!" Andariel jumped up in joy when Athena walked in._

_"My little angel," Athena sighed contentedly and picked up the child in her arms. She kissed Andariel's forehead, "you are so beautiful."_

_"Just like her mother," I said, putting my arm around Athena's waist; for once it seemed like was had a complete and happy family. _

_"Now, I have a present," Athena smiled, but did not reveal what the gift was. Andariel was silent too, in anticipation. Athena then brought out a husky puppy that, to me, seemed to have her own eyes; such a light shade of blue that they seemed to be grey._

_"He's adorable!" Andariel smiled joyfully, and went to pick up the whimpering animal. In an instant, before anything could happen, Andariel had bore her seemingly insignificant small teeth into the soft underbelly of the puppy and was drinking its blood._

_"Andariel!" Athena and I both shouted, appalled, yet somehow knowing this would happen. There could be no more proof then this; our precious, beautiful Andariel was an immortal child._

"You know technically I did your kind a favor," the man said. "Your leader even complimented me on it."

"Aro would never associate with such filth," I said evenly, though I knew very well he would, I just didn't think he would to me. The idea _was_ possible, but it just seemed so _wrong_. No, I shoved the very thought out of my mind, I could not be distracted now.

"You think you know him so well," the man laughed, "if only you knew…"

"If only I knew what?" I growled, not liking not knowing something important.

"You see, really, your wife was an accident," the man shrugged, "I do regret my warriors not killing her, but she wasn't the intended victim."

"Oh, and who was?" I asked sarcastically, positive this animal was only trying to stall for time; which reminded me that night was shortcoming.

"Why, Didyme of course," the man sighed. How did he know the names of the dear ones in my family? How dare he.

"Lies!" I hissed, my hands immediately forming fists. The man let out a dry laugh that sounded almost like a howl.

"Oh, how ignorant you are Caius, how ignorant indeed."

_Time and time again we tried to demonstrate to Andariel the proper normalities (if there ever were any) of vampire life. How and when to feed, how to annoy Marcus and Aro, and the like. We educated her to be a bright pupil, knowing our histories and human histories alike. She loved to explore, and for awhile that's all we did as a family. Athena and I would take her places and tell her stories about it._

_One day, while Athena was looking for new clothes for Andariel, we had a delicate conversation._

_"Why did you change Mom?" she asked. She had stopped calling us "Mommy" and "Daddy" a few months back._

_"Because I love her," I said simply, though it was not quite as simple as I made it seem._

_"Aro told me it was because of wolves."_

_"Aro should learn to keep his mouth shut."_

_"Is it true though?" she asked, eyes all wide in that undeniable childish innocence._

_"It is. Well, they played a rather extreme part in her changing, but I loved her all the same whether she had been mauled or not," I said._

_"So wolves exist?" she asked, frowning slightly. I sat down and pulled her into my arms._

_"Sadly, yes. Why do you ask?" I had to admit, I was curious now._

_"Well, I think I saw one."_

_"Where?" I growled, instantly gripping her tightly, ready to protect her._

_"Not here," she said solemnly, "but at the castle, I think Aro was talking to one. He was alone and didn't know I was there."_

_"Impossible," I said, not believing what I was hearing._

_"Yes, he had silver eyes, and shaggy grey hair, but he wasn't old like most men with gray hair are. He was young and very…large."_

"You only listen to what you want to hear," the man shrugged. This man must have been the one Andariel had spoken of; silver eyes, grey hair, muscular build.

"I listen to reason," I countered, "and reason right now tells me that I should kill you."

"Then come," the man held out his hand and beckoned me forward.

"With the rest of your pack inside?" I scoffed, "were you not the one who earlier accused me of not wanting an even match? No, come here."

He quickly glanced up at the sky, and slowly walked forward. I saw that under his light clothes he disguised a dagger, but that only served to make me smile; a dagger against my skin was nothing. The effect of my granite limbs on his soft flesh did change the image considerably, and as horrible as it was, it made me smile further.

_"Caius!" Athena called for me frantically._

_"What? What is it, love?" I asked, putting my arms around her, pleased at how perfectly she fit inside them._

_"Where is Andariel?" _

_"I don't know," I said, "Aro said she was with you."_

_"He told me she was with you."_

_"This is all a simple misunderstanding," I said calmly though I was frantic inside. I rubbed small circles on Athena's back, in an effort to calm her. "She's probably off exploring, you know how she loves to explore." Athena nodded, and got up with me as we went out to search for her._

_Outside, there was a funny smell, I knew I had smelt it before but could not place it. This I would have normally overlooked; there were still young newborns we were training and they all had different aromas, but what caught my attention with this particular scent was that Andariel's minty scent was intertwined with it._

_I looked at the ground, and found only large wolf tracks, none of the light marks that a vampire would leave, not even a _small_ vampire._

_"Oh Caius," Athena sobbed dryly, resting her head on my shoulder. "She's gone. She's GONE! And it's all my fault!" she broke down then, and it not only broke her, but it broke my heart as well. _

_"It's not your fault," I said vehemently, "we _will_ find her. I promise you we will." She sniffed and looked up at me. She nodded, and we continued silently to look for our daughter. _

_We had had her for such a small amount of time. It was not fair that our angel be robbed of us when we had eternity to be together. _

I had found our angel. At long last I had, and I wished I hadn't. All of her was burned, save for that one lock of hair that the dog so proudly displayed. I could see, beside the dagger, a leather pouch and it was the minty smell that radiated from it that let me know exactly what its contents were.

He was halfway up the ledge now, and I prepared to tear him limb from limb, hear him scream in pain as my daughter no doubt had. She had committed no crime! Nothing, yet she was the victim here, and it was her vitality that filled me now, along with Athena's, that allowed me to face my enemy with as much patience as I had already shown. I knew if I was acting as my normal self, I would have jumped to where he stood long ago and begun to kill him. But something, I attributed it to the two most meaningful people in my life, Athena and Andariel, warned me to be cautious, to be wary, to control.

He was close, so close, and at last I felt my rage snap within me as my venom flowed freely throughout my mouth and body, energizing every cell in me, empowering me in such a way that I had never felt before. I grabbed his arm and swung him into the jagged rock ledge, pleased, yet nowhere near sated with the resonating _thunk_ that followed.

_"Dad, how much do you love me?" Andariel asked. I had heard other children ask this and didn't think much of the question then, but now it meant more to me than I ever thought possible._

_"I love you more than anything," I replied. I rarely ever lied to my child, but I did this once, and it hurt when I did only _because_ I loved her so much. There was one thing I loved more than her and that was Athena. I kissed the top of my little angel's head , "You know I'm here for you, and that I'll protect you from anything—"_

_"Anywhere, anyone, anytime." She joined me in me promise. I said this to her often that she had memorized it. Recently, now she recited it with me and at the end would always give me a high five; fitting her tiny little hand into mine._

I had broken my promise to her. True, it had been unknowing, for if I could have changed the events that happened leading up to this I would, but I could not do so. And for every second of pain I made this dog feel I wished I could make up for that. I had not protected her when she had most needed it, and that was something I knew I would never forgive myself for.

Even as I took my revenge on this mongrel I knew that it would never fill the gaping hole that Andariel had left in me. It would never take away the sadness in Athena's eyes when she saw a mother and a child, it would change nothing, only lessen the pain.

This realization fueled my anger further and I poured that anger into the blows which I fed relentlessly to the dog. A shadow passed over us, and I knew that sunset was not far; only then would I actually to be cautious of my actions.

_"Dad, why are you so angry sometimes?" Andariel asked. I smiled slightly; apparently even my own child saw my impatience with the world._

_"I'm not angry," I sighed, "it's just that sometimes everyone else can be so incompetent." She giggled, and eventually erupted into peals of laughter. I didn't think what I had said was so utterly hilariously, but if it made her happy it was worth it. _

_"You're funny," she smiled, and raised her arms so I could lift her up. I did so, just as Athena walked in. _

_"Well look who I found," she smiled, "my two favorite people in the world." She glided over to me and kissed me, much to Andariel's disgust._

_"That's gross," she muttered, and Athena and I simply laughed. I could not believe that when Andariel was changed that I didn't want to keep her, and here she was, irreversibly imprinted in our lives. It was this moment that I thought about many times after it happened, seeing it from a third person point of view, how we must have looked like the perfect family._

Never again would that happen. I had let myself become soft, and open; open to love, but also open to attack. I had been injured in the place that not only caused the most pain, but also took the longest time to heal: the heart. I growled and again hit the man, my rage the only thing controlling me.

Then, something that I knew would happen happened much sooner than I thought it would. The cloud that had cast a shadow upon me and the wolf, allowed him to transform. If only I had known this before! No time for regret, I reminded myself, and attacked him savagely even while he transformed.

Once the transformation was complete, I knew that things were beginning to get complicated. I wasn't fighting one wolf, I was now fighting his entire pack.

_We were in the throne room, I simply sat lazily on the wooden chair, watching Aro talk to the newborns about the spy mission I had organized. The only thing that was news to me was that Didyme was going. Marcus cringed and I saw his eyes slightly widen at Aro's announcement, and I couldn't help but empathize with him. _

_"What spy mission?" Athenodora asked me, careful to not look too worried and worry Andariel. "Are you going?" she asked me, gripping my arm tightly. _

_"Don't worry, love. I'm staying here," I reassured her. She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder. After the meeting Andariel ran up to greet us; she had been left in the care of Sulpicia while the meeting took place. _

_"How come I can't go to the meetings?" she asked. "And don't waste your time telling me that I'm too young because technically I'm older than Jane and Alec." _

_I would've smiled at her curiosity and almost anger, but I knew she was right. "There are things in there that aren't meant to be heard by children."_

_"Jane and Alec?!" she asked, and I was somewhat saddened that though my little girl would never grow up physically, she would have an independent mind…I wondered if she would still always remember me as her 'Daddy'. _

_"Listen to me, Andariel," I rarely ever used her name to address her. "Jane and Alec are nothing compared to you. Could you imagine if you got hurt because of what you knew? I know to you this seems just like me being an overprotective parent, but I love you and I couldn't possibly let _anything_ happen to you. I would much rather have Jane or Alec get hurt than you."_

_She looked down. "Sorry."_

_"Don't be sorry," Athena said, embracing Andariel. "Caius is just a butt." I rolled my eyes and walked up to my room. Lately, I hadn't had much of any alone time and I couldn't say I missed it, but I guess I just…appreciated it much more now. I took out a book that I had been reading since…since I before I had even met Athena, and continued to read it from where I left off. I was distracted not ten minutes later, when a knock came at my door and Andariel came in._

_"Daddy," she murmured. With that one word I smiled and let her c_

The werewolf's paw hit me on my back, knocking me forwards, making fall on my face into the cold damp dirt. I was glad I was alone, after all, I still had some dignity to preserve, and a face full of soil was not a becoming look for me.

How could I have been so careless! Of course I knew he wasn't stupid enough to come out alone to face me. I was surrounded by wolves already, and I wished that I had had a longer time to say goodbye to Athena, for surely I would die now.

I whipped around, ripping the jaw out of the wolf behind me. Blood spurted everywhere, covering me in the silver, metallic liquid. I took his body and threw it at the leader. He simply tossed it to the side, and howled. I could feel the ground vibrate as heavy wolves ran towards us. His eyes flashed as he silently drew closer, teeth bared and low growls ripping out of his throat.

The paws stopped, and I knew now, that I was no longer alone with just their leader, but I was in the center of their circle.

"Well," I asked, "what are you waiting for?" I asked, preparing to fight and take out as many of them before I died. A small brown wolf with flecks of gold in his coat lunged at me. He succeeded in tearing off a chunk of my shoulder before I grabbed his legs and threw him apart, splashing his pack members with his blood. I growled, the pain in my shoulder was so much that it was practically numb. That normally would have been a good thing, except that if that went numb then so would the rest of my arm.

I flipped backwards and tried to reach for the neck of the medium sized wolf. There were only two ways to kill a wolf; one was to decapitate it, the second was to bite it. Their blood, however, was poisonous to vampires, for that reason, we developed fangs _only_ when we bit wolves. It allowed us to inject our venom while not take any of their blood, it was quite useful.

We tumbled down the rocky cliff almost into the very cave they lived, where I was greeted by three more wolves that latched onto my legs and side. I kicked one off, knocking down another in the process, but still had to get the one off from my side. I wrenched my body over and let my hands curve around the furry neck before twisting. The furry body fell away instantly, but taking a rather large portion of my side with him. I got up, in doing so I realized I was missing a relatively small part of my foot, nothing to hinder my fighting ability yet.

Everything continued in this fashion; me killing a wolf with another one easily taking its place. Each time I killed one and its body fell away; it always seemed to take a souvenir of my body away with it.

I took a risk once, a whirlwind of arms and teeth through a group of about five werewolves. The bright side of that risk was that I killed every single one of them. The down side, I lost an arm. Now I was sure I would die. No…I had to kill the leader. He was the one who killed my daughter, and I _would not die_ until he was dead.

I used the carcass of a nearby wolf to help me try to balance while standing on two feet. I caught the eyes of the leader and though I did not actually speak anything out loud, I made my intentions very clear.

I _would_ kill him.

Despite the pain I managed to wobble over to where he was. I took a few swipes at him before he simply, almost delicately pushed me over with one paw. Being close to the ground was fine, it allowed me to grab his hind leg and wrench it off. That was enough to provoke him into a feral rage and from then on I wasn't quite sure if my head was even connected to my body.

Slowly, I gained some feeling, and I _was_ connected to my torso, but my arms and legs were nowhere in sight. I had failed, oh my Athena and Andariel, I had failed.


	14. Chapter 14

Savior

Some people plead to God for Him to save them. Some plead to angels, demons whatever they think is most likely to help them. In the moments before I would certainly die, I did not plead to any higher power for my life spared, I simply apologized over and over again. For those who I had wronged, those who I loved that I had now taken my life out of their lives, to Andariel who I had failed to protect, to Athena who I had promised to stay with forever and was not able to fulfill that promise.

You never truly knew a person's personality until you saw them in their moments of death. Only then were they most themselves.

So, as I prepared to die, I saw a light flash in front of me. Cliché right? I had never believed in any sort of god after I became a vampire, but I suppose, as I pondered the existence of a higher power, I was right. The only reason I came to that conclusion was because I realized that the flash of light was Athenodora; my goddess.

As much as I wanted to be able to want her near me when I died, I did not want her here now. I hadn't taught her to fight, the wolves would kill her too. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the bloodbath, but found myself unable to shut my eyes, wanting to remember every moment that I could of her.

I saw her teeth flash constantly; her small arms rip off things that seemed to be much too heavy for her. It took me about a minute to see that she was actually winning. When had she learned to fight? I certainly hadn't taught her, but I was suddenly very thankful to whoever had.

She was now fighting against the silver wolf; the leader, when I saw a wolf crouching down, slowly scooting behind her in an attempt for a surprise attack. I would not let things end this way. I painfully managed to crawl, no not even that because that required arms and legs, but _slither_ over to where the wolf was poised to attack and bit hard into its neck. I made sure it did not let out any noise as it died so as not to distract Athena from continuing to kick the alpha werewolf's ass.

There were a few close calls that made me cringe, but never anything serious. Finally Athena ducked to the side and in the process rammed the mutt into the jagged rock wall, completely knocking him unconscious. She looked at him curiously, never saying a word; it seemed as if she was unsure whether he was already dead, or how to kill him.

"Bite his neck," I barely managed to whisper. I saw her quickly glance at me, and even seemed to debate whether to follow my advice or come to where I lay. In the end, she chose the former and _then_ came over to where I was.

"You saved me." It was all I could say; I had no more air to speak with.

*****

Athena put me back together and the two emotions that overpowered me were love and gratitude, they beat out embarrassment by quite a bit.

"How did you learn to fight like that?" I asked her, while we got rid of the bodies.

"That's a secret," she smiled coyly. I narrowed my eyes.

"Tell."

"Well, if you must know, Marcus taught me."

"Well, remind me to thank him," I said, never feeling more indebt to Marcus than I did now. Normally I would have been furious. "You saved me."

She laughed, "I just did what was right."

"I wasn't talking about you saving me from the wolves," I said slowly, "though that applies too. I meant you saved me from this, _vampirism. _You're the reason I_ want _to liveevery single day of forever."

She smiled, but said nothing; looking at me in such a way that words were not needed. "We complete each other," she said easily. It reminded me of how we had never "slept" together. While I was still thinking about that, she started a fire and we burned the bodies, leaving absolutely nothing to clue in any humans. I could have told her about Andariel's ashes, her lock of hair, but I knew I could not. If it caused her pain, as I knew it would, there would be no point to telling her. The best we could do was to continue loving her, even in death, and remember her; the happiness she brought us.

"Well, you got your revenge on them like you wanted," she said pensively.

"I'm sorry if it doesn't make you feel any better," I apologized. She turned to me, suddenly furious.

"How could you do that though?" her ruby eyes blazed, but there was still beauty in them. I remembered back in Valentino's house when she was still a servant and how her fury only made her look more beautiful, it was the same case now. "How could you leave without saying a word? I know it was because of revenge or whatever petty reason, but what if you _had _died? There would be no reason for me to live. I love you," she said earnestly, "I _love_ you. Does that mean nothing?" I knew that if I used the wrong words, everything would go downhill; but, luckily, I had the ones that meant the most.

"It means everything," I whispered in her ear. "Your love means everything." She was silent, and then she silently came to me, wrapping me in a tight embrace which I reciprocated.

"I thought I lost you," she sobbed, though no tears were present. "Could you have ever imagined what that felt like?"

"Love, I thought I had lost everything," I said honestly, there were some things that you couldn't say, that no matter how you rethought it, words were not enough, and I was there, I wanted her to know that I thought I was going to die, and in that thought the depth of my anguish was bottomless. "As a matter of fact, I thought I was dead. I thought you were God, or an angel, or something of that sort. Now that I know it was you, I know I was right."

"Don't try to flatter me when I'm angry," she tried to keep an angry face but I could see the hint of a smile on her full red lips. Quite surprisingly, and definitely not intentional (though I did not mind it) I kissed her. I was so glad I did not die; I would miss this, _her._

"_Flatter you_?" I asked feigning innocence, "I'm just telling the truth." She just smiled and looked away. The second of merriment was then replaced with the same melancholy air from before. We had both seemed to remember the reason why we were here, and it wasn't something we wanted to remember. The wind picked up, sending the smoke from the fire we started towards a nearby village.

"Athena, let's go," I beckoned her over to me, neither of us really wanted to be here. She nodded, and we began to walk back silently towards the castle.

A quarter of the way en route to the castle, we passed a gentle river that ran peacefully through the forest and eventually past a medium sized city that bordered Rome. It was crystal clear, with a soft trickling rhythm that seemed to lull one's senses in a pleasant way. I knew this river though, and in the spring it was capable of flooding its banks and form a massive torrent of deadly water that easily swept away the village to Rome. It had two faces to it, but both were true to its own core.

It reminded me of Andariel. I didn't realize how much I missed her presence until even a _river_ reminded me of her. It reminded Athena too, and Athena loved her daughter much more than one could imagine. With one glance at me, I knew Athena wanted to stop here and I easily complied.

She glided to the bank of the river and then gracefully crouched down and sat on the edge of a rock apparently not caring that her fine garb was getting wet. She dangled her feet in the cold water and hummed a soft melody while staring up at the sky with an expression I could not decipher upon her face. I did not disturb her, but simply watched curiously at my glorious wife, still in awe of her.

In one swift movement she carved something in a granite stone that lay to the side of the river. At first, I noticed nothing particular about the stone that would call someone's attention to it. I was right, there was nothing unusual about the stone; it was the sun that shone on it directly from above that made it stand out. It was the only stone that was illuminated and it had faint quartz sparkles flecked in its grey components.

Only when I noticed this did I realize what she had inscribed; it made my heart melt.

_Family Volturi:_

_Caius + Athena + Andariel_

I smiled slightly at it, and realized I couldn't have said, or technically written, it better myself. We named the river after our daughter and to this day the Andariela River retains its name of true origin. (I don't actually know geographic wise).

"What do you think?" Athena asked, gesturing to her elegant, yet at the same time messy cursive that adorned the stone.

"It's…appropriate," I said, pleased at how simple something could be whilst still retaining meaning and grace. I brushed my hand over the smooth stone and then with the tip of my finger chiseled in a heart towards the bottom of the rock.

Our family that never was.

Humans would have stayed and grieved over what was lost, but being a vampire allowed a certain level of clairvoyance; I was able to focus on what I had _not_ lost, but the things that I had kept. Athena, my life…things like that that I had to admit I was grateful for.

I looked down at her, still admiring her and the fact that she was mine, when she turned to look at me and smiled. With a soft sigh she stood and walked until she was beside me. Out of randomness, or perhaps because love makes you do things you never expect, I gently kissed her cheek and we continued on our way to the castle.

ATHENODORA VOLTURI

I suppose I should have felt a sense of relief upon arriving at the castle since it was my house. Yet, I already felt that way, like I had reached my home…probably because I knew my home was wherever Caius was. In his arms, where I was always welcome, where I fit perfectly, where I was whole.

CAIUS VOLTURI

I had a mild sense of relief upon arriving at the castle, but the feeling of already being home when I was with Athena lingered. Home was wherever she was; wherever we went, _together_.

(Point to make of the two different POV's that are practically saying the same thing: they're compatible for each other; home is where the other is and if it wasn't obvious enough, they love each other.)


	15. Chapter 15

Conviction

At home, nothing particularly interesting happened. Aro and the newborns were a pain in the ass but that was nothing new. Today, I was finally assigned with the sorry task of selecting part of the group of newborns to accompany Aro and Marcus to visit the Romanian's and glean information from them to assist us.

Didyme, Sulpicia, and Athena were all upstairs in the communal room discussing topics that I shuddered to think about for too long. I always tried to keep tabs on Athena (not like in a creepy stalker-ish way, but protective) I had never lost her, and I intended to keep it that way. I sighed and pulled a black cloak over my head as I readied to leave outside and deal with the task at hand.

I blinked as I walked outside. Going from the dark castle to the bright gardens lit by an unyielding Italian sun was a very visually painful action; especially for vampire eyes which saw so much more. In any case, my eyes readjusted quickly and I saw the line of the full Guard before me. They all had dark cloaks now, varying from shades of light grey to almost black. The effect gave the dark line before me an almost artistic feel.

Back to business, I singled out the older members of the Guard and then assessed the newer ones.

"Heidi," I called first, and she walked up to where I stood. "Would you would visit the Romanian's?" I asked.

"My pleasure," she growled, the Romanian's had killed her parents and she hated them more than the rest of us did. She moved to stand slightly behind me and then I again turned to the black line before me and analyzed who to pick next. I suddenly became very happy, which I knew was obviously not of my own doing, but I knew whose it was.

"Didyme, what are you doing?" I sighed. She giggled,

"Oh, Caius how did you ever know it was me?"

"I'm rarely happy, and even I recognize that so obviously I knew it was you," I sighed again.

"Your grumpiness is going to give you frown lines," she said in a matter-of-fact way.

"And your incessant happiness and smile is going to put lines on your face as well," I shrugged. "I'm busy, can't you go bother your brother, or Marcus and leave me alone?"

"No," she grinned, "You're more fun, and that's really no way to treat your partner."

"Didyme," I said slowly so she understood, "you are in no way shape or form my partner."

"Oh," she said darkly, "but I am. I'm the one who's taking them to Romania." I grumbled knowing I couldn't refute that.

"Well, then could you please be less annoying then usual?" I asked as politely as I could, and even then there was still acid in my voice.

"No," she laughed and put her arm on my shoulder analyzing, or at least doing a good job of pretending to, the Guard. Since she was already there, I decided I might as well get some information from her.

"The twins, what are their talents?" I asked, I hadn't been home when they're talents were discovered, I hadn't even _seen_ them until now. Their cloaks were dark though, almost the color of mine, and I knew, as Aro had said, they were powerful.

"Jane, Alec," Didyme called, her smile never faltering. The two exceptionally small figures came forward and an unyielding wave of pain hit me when they looked up at me. I cringed back, closing my eyes to relinquish myself from the torment. "No Jane, don't use your talent on him, he means no harm, despite what he says and does."

"I'm not," Jane said innocently. "I'm not using my talent on him." I opened my eyes again, careful to not look at Jane but instead at Didyme.

"Her talent?" I gasped, still somewhat hurting.

"She can…cause unbearable mental pain to a person." Didyme said. I knew Didyme didn't like that talent, she was always about smiles and flowers and making people happy. "But I don't understand, if she wasn't using her talent on you, what was causing you pain?"

"Andariel," was all I whispered, but it was enough to inform Didyme. Looking at Jane was like looking at what would have been a fourteen year old Andariel. There were slight differences, facial expression, hair; but she had the same eyes, nose, mouth, and cheeks as my beloved Andariel. I was looking at what my child would grow to be, except now she never would, and I knew that every time I looked at Jane, I would be reminded of what I had lost. I took a deep, unnecessary, breath and faced the two twins again.

"Forgive me, Master, if I have offended you," Jane said, blankly; I had no idea if she meant it or not, not that it really mattered.

"Don't be sorry, child, it was not of your doing," I amended. It was then that I knew that though Jane looked like my daughter, their personalities were nothing alike. I knew that every time I looked upon Jane I would still be somewhat pained, but their slight difference is what would make it bearable. "But we have not been properly introduced, I am Caius. Didyme tells me you are Jane and Alec, correct?"

Jane smiled angelically at being formally recognized by a 'Master'. Alec nodded, and I knew he was not like Jane; again subtle differences that made people entirely different.

"Mistress Didyme already told you what my talent is," Jane said, "but I think Alec should tell you what he can do." Alec was about to speak but Didyme beat him.

"Jane dear, it's Didyme, just Didyme, no Mistress crap," Didyme said. I smiled, knowing that was 100% something Didyme would say, she explained this to every Guard member. Her excuse: 'I don't want it to sound like I'm a prostitute, or whore or something'.

"I'm—sorry," Jane said, confused.

"Well, putting that aside," Alec said good-naturedly, "my talent is to cut off the sense until the subject feels nothing."

"Very powerful talents," I said, looking at them and knowing they would be a force to be reckoned with. "Would you two mind accompanying Didyme to Romania?" I asked them, though they didn't really have a choice.

"Not at all," Jane smiled darkly. It was a strange look for a face that was innocent, her brother simply nodded, and that was all the confirmation I needed.

"Demetri," I called. It was an obvious pick, really, we needed to find them; for the best tracker in the world, that shouldn't be a problem. He nodded and joined the group of vampires behind me. I called out a few others spoke to each of them personally, then as a group, and then let them disperse.

I felt relieved and then walked up to my room only to be confronted by a mischievous looking Athena.

"Caius," she said seductively, and pushed me against the wall, "You escaped from me today."

I chuckled, "I had duties to fulfill. But now that I'm free," I smiled slightly, "come here." She grinned and practically pounced on me, her hands getting tangled in my hair as she kissed me. My hands snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to me though there was no more space between us. I eventually moved away from her lips, and traced her graceful neck all the way down to her collarbone, then her shoulder, removing the sleeve so that I could continue going down the rest of her arm without anything blocking the way.

"I missed you," she murmured in my ear, nibbling it ever so deliciously. I stopped kissing her for a second,

"I missed you too." I resumed my passage down her arm until I kissed the tip of her finger, and then I retraced my way back up until I reached her lips once more. She giggled, and removed her hands from my hair, instead placing them delicately on my chest. It was only when she subtly moved her lips away from my own and down to my chest that I realized she had somehow taken off my shirt.

"Whoa," I mumbled, looking down at her and at me at the same time which felt strange. I gently brought her back up with my hand and gently stroked her cheek. She held my hand against her face and smiled contentedly. In one single second again I crushed my lips back to hers and that was all I was occupied with for awhile.

My hands traveled up from her waist and held her arms next to her shoulders. Her sleeves drooped gently, lowering the cut of her dress to a very tempting level.

"Why must you tempt me so?" I growled. At that she threw her head back and laughed golden peals of laughter. I didn't find it at _all_ funny but laughed with her.

"Me tempting you," she said between bouts of laughter.

"Okay, what is so funny about that?" I finally asked.

"Because I thought you were tempting me by purposely keeping me here rather than…" she trailed off, and stopped laughing.

"Rather than what?" I asked, though I had a pretty good inclination of what she meant. She looked up at me now with large pleading eyes and it crossed me that she actually felt embarrassed to suggest sex when it I might very well give in. "My room?" I finally asked, seeing as she wouldn't say a word. She nodded, and smiled sheepishly. "Is my lioness suddenly afraid?" I teased gently. "Come, love," I said softly, taking her within my embrace and leading her to my room.

Upon entering my room, it felt like it was so much bigger than normal, so empty…like two people couldn't possibly fill it.

"So," I prompted, not really sure what was going to happen now. She took a deep breath, and then lunged at me, making us both topple onto the bed.

Where had the kitten gone? She was afraid outside, and now she was back to her lioness self.

Before I knew it, she was trying to undo the buckle to the clasp that held up my pants.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I stopped her hands. "Curiosity killed the cat."

"Is that so?" she asked, remaining absolutely calm.

"Yes."

"Then why are you staring at my chest?" she asked.

"Because, currently, it is what right above my face," I said, laughing slightly. It was true too. She had tumbled on top of my and in order for me to look at her face I had to glance over two…assets; no one said I didn't like the view either. I quickly leaned up and kissed her, taking her by surprise. On my way back down, I pulled her with me, and flipped her over so I was now on top. She let out a slight moan and then held me at bay with her hand forming a barrier between us.

I knew what she was contemplating and I assured her I would wait for whenever she was ready; there was no rush. After all we did have forever.

"It's not _that_, that makes me…nervous," she said. I nodded, and rolled to the side so as not to seem so demanding, forceful.

"Well, you can tell me what it is, if you want. I'll listen to whatever you have to say; I want you to be comfortable in anything you do, to be…well…happy, and if this isn't what you want then so be it."

"No," she protested, "of _course_ I'm happy with you. I love you more than anything, and it's not having sex with you that makes me nervous, it's just the _time_ that scares me," she said.

"You lost me," I admitted, taking her hand in mine.

"Think Caius!" she laughed. I went through a hundred possibilities but they all involved cold feet, not timing.

"I've got nothing," I said blankly. She sighed and looked away sadly. "What is it then?" I asked softly.

"Marriage."

Well, I sure wasn't expecting that as an answer, my expression must have reflected my surprise because she began to laugh.

"What about marriage?" I finally managed to ask.

"I want to be your _wife_ before we, you know…" she said.

"Um, Athena," I ran my hand through her hair, "you _are_ my wife. We _are_ married." She was silent for a long time and then I realized what she meant. "Oh, you mean, you want a big wedding with the dress and the train and the flowers, and the church? Is that it?"

She nodded, "I know it sounds so…selfish, but I've dreamed about having the perfect wedding since I was a little girl; a princess at that. Having the prince charming, and the perfect house and family."

"Well, I'm not Prince Charming," I said wryly.

"No, _that_ part of my dream came true; I found the perfect man, now I just want the perfect wedding. Do you know what comes after that?" she asked, teasing me.

"What? The perfect child?" I asked.

"No, we already had that," she said, a tinge of sadness found its way into her voice, but soon she brightened again, "after the perfect wedding comes the perfect honeymoon."


	16. Chapter 16

(**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!!!)**

Circle

I was slightly stunned, yet pleased at what Athena wanted. I would give it to her, of course, but I thought it was well, almost _cute_ that she wanted her fairytale wedding. The fact that I was the Prince Charming seemed to be the only really _off_ part of the whole arrangement.

Then, besides planning a wedding, there was something else that was bothering me. What the silver wolf, and Andariel, had said. Both involved Aro planning, both involved someone Marcus or I loved, dying. I knew it would bother forever, literally, if I didn't get it over with by asking Aro himself.

"Aro," I said, staying him after one of the big communal meetings.

"Yes, Caius?" he asked, looking slightly unnerved at something but I didn't know what. I waited for the room to empty before I confronted him.

"Tell me now; did you conspire to kill my daughter, and, currently, Didyme?"

He looked at me with a remorseful gleam in his eye before speaking. "I was wondering when you would ask me," he said slowly. I was almost shocked; if he had committed the act, well that was the darker side of Aro, but if he admitted to it, _that_ was not usual. "I knew that…mongrel would try to convince you I had conspired against my own family." He shook his head in disgust, "A pitiful excuse really," he looked at me straight in the eye, "why would I ever kill my own family, especially now when revolution is on our hands?" I nodded, he had a point there, and really Andariel and Didyme were harmless, so why the weaker two? "No Caius, he tried, with a disgraceful justification, to turn us against each other. Why, I know not, but you have ended the issue very efficiently."

"Aro, my daughter, she said she saw you talking to him, _at the castle_! Don't tell me Andariel was just a child seeing things, you know she was older, and smarter, than that."

"No," Aro said, "she wasn't seeing things. I did talk to Ciro, the silver wolf-man. He had sent Marcus a letter threatening Didyme's life. It was an accident that I got it," he laughed, "one of the newborns simply mistook me for Marcus and gave it to me. I told Ciro to get out of my castle and never return."

"Why didn't you tell us?" I hissed. "I for one would want to know when death threats were being made to my own family."

"Do you think Marcus would have taken it well if he learned Didyme was in any sort of danger?" Aro asked, a bit of sarcasm in his voice. But, that too, I could understand.

"I don't expect you to know the answer to this then," I said evenly, "then why was harmless Andariel killed?"

"I truly am sorry, Caius," Aro bowed his head slightly. "It is my personal theory that the wolves are somehow being…employed by the Romanian's. There's no proof, of course, but why else would they prey on the innocent?"

Aro had me convinced; everything he said made sense, it just seemed a bit…odd. More than that, I don't think I wanted to think badly of Aro, it _needed_ to be secure with the people around me if I was to start a war, and win it. I learned this from my human days, which provided me with the perfect lesson of why I should always be wary of the people around me. That wouldn't change as a vampire, as a matter of fact, it would only make things more dangerous.

I simply nodded before leaving the room, reassessing my view on Aro. I decided that I wanted to know more about the man I called my brother. I went up to Marcus's chambers and paused at the door, tapping once to alert him of my presence.

"Come in, Caius," Marcus said, throwing things around in his room before letting me in. Didyme was lying across an unmade bed reading a book while Marcus stood by the window.

"I hope I didn't disturb anything," I said, trying to ignore the fact that there were shredded clothes on the floor and both were in robes.

"Well, you wouldn't know," Marcus snickered. I rolled my eyes and refocused on why I had come here. For a second I debated about telling him what Aro had told me regarding Didyme's life, but decided against it.

"Marcus, can I talk to you, privately?" I asked, glancing at Didyme.

He shook his head, "No." I sighed, why was Marcus the one who always made things difficult?

"Fine, but your wife better not go crazy on me when she finds out what I'm talking about. Or you for that matter," I said, knowing it was unlikely but warning them anyway, as well as preparing myself.

"Can you tell me what Aro's relationships are?" I asked. Marcus raised an eyebrow,

"He's not gay, if that's what you were hoping for, or bi either," Marcus said.

"You _idiot_," I sighed, I knew this wasn't a good idea. "I don't care where Aro's sexual orientation lies; I just want to know the…strength of his relationships to us."

"Oh," Marcus smirked, "you should have said that earlier."

"I did," I muttered, and waited for Marcus to talk. Marcus paced to and fro, and then got a far off look in his eyes; what this meant was that he was going to ask like a psychic palm reader/gypsy. I really do wonder why I waste so much with incompetents, and how I'm going to survive eternity, when I can barely stand five minute of Aro or Marcus alone, just imagine them together…I would die, literally.

"I spy, with my little eye—" Marcus began.

"For the love of God just get to the point!" I roared, annoyed. Marcus laughed, as well as Didyme, and continued on being the idiot that he is. I turned to Didyme, 'help' I mouthed.

"Well," she shrugged, "I love my brother; I know he would never do anything to me or Marcus, or even you…which is saying something. I trust him completely." I knew she wasn't editing her feelings, it was obvious she trusted him, with her life if it came down to it, or perhaps that was the point? I remembered the death threat was made to Didyme, and if you wanted a cover up for a murder, wouldn't you want the victim to be surprised? For a flawless cover up wouldn't you want everyone to see you as the truthful, trusting brother that would _never_ do anything to hurt his little sister?

I looked straight at Didyme, who thankfully wasn't looking at me, and knew that the happiness she saw in the world, her innocence, and most of all her trust would be her ultimate downfall; if not now, but in the future. Then I looked at Marcus and knew that Didyme's downfall would be his as well. My thoughts immediately raced to Athena. Would she be my downfall, would I be hers? I couldn't think about this, not now, not after I had just gotten her. I glanced at Marcus sadly, Didyme as well, and hoped the best of luck for them…then again, good luck was something I had little of.

"Marcus, forget it, I don't want to know anymore. I'm sorry to have bothered you." I went to the door and silently let myself out. I knew then, that I couldn't trust anyone here, well anyone except my Athena.

I knew now that I was bitter. Loss, anger, and distrust already had rooted themselves in my life, forging the role I had to play in our emerging coven. Bitter, cold, harsh, baleful…what had I gotten myself into?

*****

Athena, Sulpicia, and I waved off Didyme and the select few members of the Guard who were going off to visit the Romanian's. Marcus would be accompanying her until the Italian border, where he would branch off and head to Rome for some reason or another. Aro would be searching for prospective talents around Romania, not only to keep an eye out on our spy group, but also to change anyone who seemed somewhat useful.

Sulpicia seemed intent on helping Athena have the lavish wedding she had dreamed of, so I barely got anytime alone with her anymore. That left me with the Guard that I got the honor to train. Joy.

*****

"CAIUS!" Sulpicia shouted again; it was the fifth time in one training session I was holding with the Guard. Some of them were even starting to take bets on how many times I would be called away. I didn't know which was more: embarrassing or frustrating.

"What?" I growled as I jumped through the window to the room the two women were in.

"Try these on," Sulpicia ordered and handed me a pile of clothes. Thus commenced my half an hour clothing session where the two women debated on which clothes I should wear for the wedding. While I was changing, I heard Sulpicia's and Athena's lovely conversation on pet names.

"Aro calls me Sully," Sulpicia said, "There's something so…soft in the way he says it, no one else gets it right."

"Caius calls me Athena, it used to be Dora, before he really knew me," Athena said lightly.

"Well, your name is rather long," Sulpicia commented.

"I know, blame my parents," Athena laughed, "but I'm fine with it, I get to be called the name of a goddess and since Caius says I'm his goddess, I guess it works."

It was torture, and that is putting it mildly. I came out of the next room, having tried on the clothes they gave me and as soon as I saw them I threw the clothes out the window.

"Sully, I'm going to wear, whatever the hell I feel like," I ranted.

"See what I mean?" Sulpicia sighed, "only Aro gets it right, now, what were you saying Cai? Something about wearing whatever you want, I believe?" Sulpicia was trying not to laugh, while Athena barely succeeded in the feat.

"Cai, I do believe I'll have to try that," she blurted, making my jaw actually drop at the whole…situation I was in. Athena finally burst out laughing then and made her way to where I was, wrapping her arms around me in an embrace. "Sorry love," she murmured, "It'll all be over soon, and in the end, it will be worth it." I looked her over,

"I _hope_ so, I'm starting to have my doubts."

"I am _so_ worth it," Athena said indignantly.

"But, how do I really _know_?" I asked, toying with her now, but being completely serious. "Perhaps I need a more, _mature_ woman," I slowly walked towards Sulpicia, until I was right behind her, my lips inches from her shoulder. "someone like, Sulpicia." Sulpicia smiled, playing along, while Athena visibly fumed over in the corner.

"Mature, Sulpicia, right," she laughed, "good joke, Caius."

"Show her just how mature you can be, _Sully_," I whispered her pet name into her neck, my breath tickling her skin. Sulpicia let out a soft growl,that could almost be mistaken for a purr, she really was quite good at playing along, almost _too_ good, but that was Sulpicia. My arms slowly snaked around her small waist until Athena screamed.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"

That's when Sulpicia and I started laughing and congratulating each other on the good acting. Athena frowned and crossed her arms, glaring at me. I wondered if she was acting too, she was doing very well if she was.

"Jealous?" I asked Athena, coming to her side and putting my arm around her waist.

"No."

"Not just a little?" I persisted.

"A teensy bit?" Sulpicia added.

"No."

"Alright then," I said nonchalantly, "In that case, Sulpicia, if you would please accompany me to my _bed_room I do believe I lost something there and was wondering if you could help me find it."

"No problem, Caius," Sulpicia said happily and looped her arm through mine as we exited the room and walked down to my room. Halfway there Athena shouted,

"Wait!!! Okay, okay, I'll admit I was jealous!" Sulpicia and I stopped and waited for Athena to join us. As soon as she reached us I finally took her within my grasp again.

"My little jealous almost-wife," I chuckled and kissed her forehead. She frowned.

"It wasn't funny. You don't know what it feels like…and I mean I obviously know its fake and your acting, but it hurts all the same," she whispered. Well, on the bright side, she knew it was fake, on the downside, I had hurt her.

"I'm just going to go now," Sulpicia said quietly and disappeared.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "if I had known it would hurt you I wouldn't have done anything." I cornered her against the wall, my arms not letting her escape. "But I'll do what I can to help the pain go away," I promised and my lips came crashing down on hers.

*****

Somehow, we walked from our present location to my room and again, somehow, we became tangled in the sheets of my bed until the next day's sun alerted us of what time it was. I was confused for a 100th of a second before everything fell into place and a wave of dread washed over me.

"Athena, I'm so, so, _so_ sorry," I began apologizing immediately and didn't stop for a good five minutes.

ATHENODORA VOLTURI

"What's wrong?" I asked. He sat up, flinching when I touched him. He grabbed his snowy hair in fists and I wondered what he could possibly be apologizing about.

"I—I did it with you, I took it all away, I'm a monster!" he seemed to be furious at himself, yet I still didn't understand _why_.

"It's okay," I tried to calm him by putting my hand on his shoulder, but her shrugged it off.

"No, it's not okay," he whispered, "I wanted you to have it all, the perfect wedding, the perfect family, the perfect honeymoon. And with this, I ruined it all, and I can't ever give it back I—" I saw him beginning to get caught up again before I pulled him back with my newborn strength.

"It's okay," I said again, slower. "It's fine, it really is. I mean, hello, you're not the only person in the bargain. It takes two to tango remember! I knew what I was getting into and I decided yesterday was the right time. That still doesn't mean everything else is ruined, we'll still be married again, and have a perfect honeymoon." I couldn't believe he was beating himself up over me not getting everything I wanted. Lord, what did I do to receive perfection?

He was beginning to protest again but I quickly shut him up with a kiss. He seemed disgusted with himself but wouldn't refuse a kiss from me so I won out.

"I'm sorr—" he managed to almost say.

"If you apologize _one more time_, I swear I'm going to smack you," I threatened. He grinned,

"So you're really not mad at me?"

"I'm really not made at you," I said frankly.

"Damn, what did I do to deserve you?" he asked. I laughed, making him scowl. "What?" he questioned me.

"I was just wondering the same thing."


	17. Chapter 17

Tragedy

CAIUS VOLTURI

I was very careful with what I did with Athena after the one incident. I still felt terrible about it; how I could be so _selfish_ with what I wanted and not paying attention to what she did. I thought of how I could make it up to her but it was harder than I thought; I wasn't very romantically creative and there was no way I was going to ask Marcus who had just returned from Rome.

"Caius, will you come hunting with me?" Athena asked.

"Of course," I said, still feeling guilty so hopefully this small act would grant me a bit of forgiveness. I quickly told Marcus, and then met up with Athena in front of the castle. We wouldn't be going very far, just in the surrounding forest. I loved to watch Athena hunt, so beautiful and deadly at the same time; and when the moon was out, her already pale skin had a slight shimmer to it and I sometimes wondered if she was real. It didn't seem possible, moreover, she was mine…_that_ was the truly astounding part; it always surprised me no matter how many times she told me she was mine.

I followed silently behind her as she weaved through the trees until she paused and listened to a slight rustling coming from the left. She lifted her graceful head and eyed the deer that was peacefully grazing on a small patch of grass. One second the deer was there, the next Athena was next to it, drinking its blood. I looked away; it was just awkward when someone watched you drink blood, kind of made you self conscious.

Halfway through the meal a horrifying, bloodcurdling shriek pierced the serene silence. Athena dropped the deer and looked at me, but I was looking towards the castle, where the scream had originated. We both began running at full speed towards the castle, following the macabre cries until we were both standing in front of the door to the throne room. We shared a worried glance and then I slowly pushed open the door to see Marcus writhing in pain, uncontrollably shouting and presumably violent.

Instinctively I fell into a protective stance in front of Athena before giving Aro, who had apparently returned, a questioning look. His face was resigned, sorrowful, a small bit of regret but most of all sadness. Marcus let out another scream and broke a nearby piece of furniture before falling to his knees and shaking in what had to be an unhealthy way. It was then that I noticed what he clutched in one hand: a vial, a vial full of ashes. Things fell into place and I finally understood what Marcus was…reacting to.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled ever so quietly, not that it mattered. I knew that no matter what people said Marcus would not be the same, Didyme meant too much to him for him ever to readjust without her. I swiftly left the painful room, not able to endure seeing Marcus like that, I couldn't even _begin_ to imagine what it was like for him. But again, _why Didyme_? Sure, she was leading the group but it's not like she was dangerous; my conversation with Aro suddenly replayed through my head and there was just something too odd about what had happened. Especially since Aro said he was nearby to keep an eye on things in case trouble should come; well he definitely missed out on something because now his little sister was dead. What was even sadder was that she was about to leave with Marcus so they could live their own life, such bad timing.

And then it hit me.

Actually, it was very good timing, it just depended from which perspective you were looking from. Perfect timing, because you would never be blamed since there was no evidence or incentive against you. I knew Aro, and now I knew so much more about him, what he was capable of for power; to keep valuable members, to hurt people where it caused the most pain, to destroy a life for personal gain. I now knew I would never be able to trust my _brother_, no I could not even consider that monster to be a part of my family, I wondered if I should tell Athena, but I was scared, so scared…

One wrong move and I could be Marcus, or maybe even Didyme, except I didn't have a valuable talent like Marcus does; I am disposable, the only thing holding me here is my age and knowledge of war. This was not good. I did not have many reasons to live, but the ones I did were by far the strongest and most important bonds anyone could have.

I gently put my arm around Athena's slender shoulders and let her lean into my chest, gently stroking her hair in an effort to calm her.

"Why Didyme?" Athena asked angrily, "she was not at fault; she was the happiest of us all!"

"I wish I knew," I whispered, "but we will have revenge for what we lost."

"Caius," she said quietly, "the last time we sought revenge it didn't turn out very well. It won't replace the life we lost no matter what we do; Didyme's gone, she'll never come back, you saw the ashes."

"I know," I murmured, and tightened my grip on her. We were silent for a very long time.

As a matter of fact, it seemed like the whole castle was at a standstill, no speech, no movement anywhere, only Marcus's agonizing screams. After awhile, the screams turned to pleas of 'kill me' and after Aro's refusal and Chelsea's talent, it turned to complete silence. Marcus was the spitting image of apathy, indifference, and no emotion. His eyes were empty; deep black holes that projected the nothingness and pain he felt. His face was frozen, never expressing interest or concern, nor pain or joy…never breathing, blinking, or talking. Marcus was a dead man, and he would remain that way until he was reunited with Didyme—in death.

It hurt to look at Marcus, it even almost hurt to look at Aro. This resulted in everyone avoiding everyone; the castle was home to black clad wraiths that never spoke, it was about as gloomy and morose one could imagine. Marcus was even a saint now, due to my feeding mistake he had 'cleared out all the vampires', and now he always wore the jeweled red cross that he had given to Didyme, and that was now returned to him. But there was nothing holy about him, about the castle, anywhere, it was simply…nothing, and that was worse than any pain one could feel.


	18. Chapter 18

Infinity

The depressed aura hung about the castle for weeks after Didyme's death; Marcus a living, if you could even call him 'living', it was more like…_existing_, so, an _existing_ being showing what was the result when all the love, reason for living, and happiness was wrenched from your life. He didn't even get a chance to say goodbye and after all, why would he need to? We are immortal; death is something we are liberated from.

The most awkward part following Didyme's death was that Athena and I got married only a few weeks later. I didn't have to be Aro to know what Marcus thought about the whole thing. _Why does Caius get to celebrate finding his love when I have to lose mine_? I would not judge him from this, for I knew if I was in his place I would think the same thing. I knew Marcus was not selfish, but his talent was not only a gift but a curse. He saw the new love blossoming between couples a constant reminder of what he lost, but also it was a remembrance of what made life worth living. It was for this reason that Marcus's expression at my wedding was not bored, but hopeful…he wished for Athena and I to have what he could not, and that is how I would remember Marcus, _forever_.

The day of the wedding was chaotic. I hadn't seen Athena for twelve hours and that made me agitated, nervous, excited, worried, anxious, irritable, and restless. I was alone in my chambers, wondering if life, or whatever form of existence we were part of, would ever be the same for me again. I let out an involuntary sigh and ran a comb through my hair for probably the thousandth time. I wondered if I scared her…I mean, an albino vampire isn't quite what a beautiful woman fantasizes about falling in love with. I looked like Aro and Marcus, and though we were not the epitome of male handsomeness, we were…above average. I couldn't believe I was thinking about this.

I left my room and made my way to a nearby village, hoping to cram in a last minute snack, just in case. _Just in case for what?_ I asked myself, Athena wasn't human anymore; I could be myself with her now. _You're nervous, Caius,_ I told myself _just get your ass to the castle and be done with it_. And that's what I did. Despite my hopes to perhaps see a glimpse of my bride, I saw nothing, only Sulpicia yelling at me to go away and get ready. How much more ready could I get? It's the bride who took hours to get ready, not the groom! I groaned in frustration and decided to check on the rings because if I brushed my hair or straightened my robes one more time I might just kill the priest.

I found the pillow on which the two silver bands rested upon and gently picked them up. My ring was slightly broader and it had a hammered effect on the surface, making the silver look rough yet somehow still polished. Athena's ring was a delicate silver circle with a small decoration on the front. The _small decoration_ consisted of a ruby forming the center of a flower, while the petals were diamonds. I hoped Athena would like it…what if she didn't? She would be stuck with it for eternity and…_Caius!_ I shouted at myself again, _You. Are. An. Idiot!_

I delicately held both rings up, letting them reflect soft slivers of light in every direction and an idea came to mind. I held the rings at an angle, and then delicately engraved both our names into the inside of the bands. I set them back down on the white pillow, pleased with my work, and became annoyed again that once more I didn't know what to do.

"Caius!" Aro's voice rang through the entire castle and I immediately went to where he was: the chapel. All he had to do was point to the altar and I knew that it was almost time, meaning I would go to the place where I would wait for my almost-bride.

When I saw her, I was glad, for the first time in a long time, I could not hyperventilate. Her beauty seemed unreal. There simply _could not_ be something so beautiful on this planet, or any other if life should exist there. At this moment, the only thing harder to take in than her stunning looks was the event. A wedding: where two people, a woman and a man, are bound by love, and friendship making the two, one,

_Husband, wife,_ the words floated in my head, along with _Athenodora, Caius_. It brought indescribable happiness to me to be able to connect the words and names.

_Athena!_

A fresh wave of energy and anxiety ran through me as the image of Athena hit me again, this time she was halfway down the aisle. _Why is this taking so damn long?!_ I thought-shouted angrily, though I knew my nervousness was what was provoking my temper. The seconds seemed like hours…

Was she scared—was that why she was walking so slow? Nervous? Doubtful? I knew that if she found out how much, just _how much_ I loved her she would be overwhelmed: it was _unhealthy_ the way I loved her, she should be scared! The "unhealthiness" of it all reminded me of my bachelor party (if you could even call it that). Aro really did try hard to taunt/scare/energize me, but with Marcus's black eyes and either apathetic, pained, or murderous expressions, it was not easy.

_Aro was in a serious mood, which was rare; it's what made me actually pay attention to what he was asking me. _

_"Do you believe true love is a crime?" Aro asked. What kind of ridiculous question was that?_

_"A crime?" I asked. "No."_ _Aro let out an exaggerated sigh and I knew he wasn't going to let me take back what I said._

_"Cai, I always knew you were a secret romantic." My fist made direct contact with his face and then I told him to never call me 'Cai' ever again. "If you have a point, Aro, I suggest you make it."_

_"Fine. True love _is_ a crime." I raised a brow, I didn't expect Aro to say that, he did have a wife, after all. "You _take_ someone's breath away, you _steal_ a heart."_

_"Aro," I say his name in the same condescending tone he used with me. "If it's true love, then you're _giving_ them your heart."_

_"And when they take your breath away?"_

_"We're vampires," I say, because I can't think of anything better to argue with, "we don't need to breathe." Aro then proceeded to jump up and down. Well, that was the end of the serious mood._

_"You passed!" he exclaimed._

_"Passed what?" I asked, getting irritated._

_"The test! You chose the right answer, love _isn't_ a crime."_

_"Aro," I growled, "you just wasted five minutes of my life that I will _never_ get back." Aro shrugged it off and asked me another pointless question: "Do you think vampires go to heaven?"_

_"What kind of stupid question is that?" I asked, wondering if this really was my brother. "And no. Well…" I thought of Marcus. "Never mind, it depends on the vampire."_

_"Hmm," Aro said with a far-off look in his eyes. "How about you?" he paused, thinking if I was qualified enough to go to heaven. "Well…God doesn't like hate or murder, so your situation with the wolves isn't helping your chances. Also, your plan to kill his 'son' might upset him." We both laughed when Aro mentioned the absurdity of Jesus claiming to be _God'sson_. What do you think about me?" Aro asked. I actually had to think about this one, but it was Marcus who spoke first._

_"Aro, you're going to hell." I thought it quite interesting that these were the first words Marcus had said the entire time. A look of fear and uncertainty flashed across Aro's features before he regained control. I knew what Aro had thought; that Marcus found out, for a second I wondered what would happen if he really did. _

_"Why is that?" Aro finally asked politely._

_Marcus locked eyes with Aro. "Why do you think?" There was silence for what seemed like an eternity before I spoke._

_"Because of your enthusiasm, of course. That, and your pointless conversations, like this one, would bore God to death." I knew it was the _worst _excuse ever, but I really didn't want Marcus and Aro to kill each other at _my_ bachelor party. Marcus gave me an empty glare, Aro looked somewhat thankful to me, and that was the end of the awkward moment, though silence still hung heavily in the air. Aro, of course, was the first to break the silence._

_"Are you nervous for your honeymoon, Caius?" _

_I rolled my eyes, "No." _

_"Oh, that's right," Aro nodded, understandingly, "you already slept with her." If I was not a vampire, my cheeks would have rivaled the color of a tomato, and I really didn't want to know what my face looked like._

_"I—uh, well, so?!" I asked, deciding to get angry; that was something private._

_"Just saying," Aro shrugged, "at least you'll know what to expect. From Athenodora's thoughts, she enjoyed it." I should have known; with Aro, there was no privacy. _

_"Not only is it disgusting and disturbing that you analyzed that, but if you ever speak of this you will deeply regret it." I said. "I hope I make myself clear."_

_"Crystal," Aro said, and then burst out laughing. _

_"Lunatic," I muttered and with that we took off hunting._

My breaths, no matter how unnecessary they were, came out faster the closer Athena came to me. Soon, I was left breathless. Could the angelic enigma beside me truly be real?

"Athena?" I whispered, only for her to hear.

"Caius," she whispered back, the hint of a smile lighting her features. _Damn,_ I thought_ she is beautiful_.

"Just making sure you're real," I said. She giggled, and this time let a full smile illuminate the entire room.

"Caius!" she shouted at me, though it was no louder than a sigh.

"What?" I asked, still in a trance from her beauty.

"It's your turn."

"I, Caius Volturi, do take you, Athenodora Leonaris, as my wife, in happiness and with patience and understanding, through conflict and tranquility." With my vow, I slide Athena's ring on her finger. Now it was her turn.

"I, Athenodora Leonaris, do take you, Caius Volturi, as my husband, in happiness and with patience and understanding, through conflict and tranquility." Then she slid my ring on my finger.

"In the years which shall bring Caius and Athenodora into greater age and wisdom, we hope that their love shall be ever young; that they shall be able to always recover from moments of despair. In this hope, may they keep the vows made on this day, in freedom, teaching each other who they are, what they yet shall be, enabling them to know that, in the fullness of being, they are more than themselves and more than each other. Together, we share joyously the fruits of life on this Earth forever." The priest was nearing the end of the ceremony, and I held on to his every word, waiting for the six special ones.

"As Caius and Athenodora have declared their love to each other before family and friends, I now greet them with you as husband and wife." The priest looked directly at me, and stated the six words. "You may now kiss the bride." That was all it took, and suddenly my lips met hers. In the background, I could hear the attendees clapping, but I was too busy focusing on staying in control to really pay attention. Finally, and very reluctantly, I ended the kiss.

We both turned to face the audience, which consisted of family, and the Guard. Aro and Sulpicia looked excited, surprise there. Marcus looked pained, shocker. The Guard, however, seemed to be divided between shocked and bored. In one graceful sweep, I had Athena in my arms and was carrying her out of the chapel. I carried her up to my room, where we would wait for a little bit while our _guests_ went to the ballroom where the reception would be.

"So, Mrs. Volturi," I couldn't help but smile as I said that, "was it how you dreamed it would be?"

"No," Athena murmured, looking away. The feeling of complete joy and elation that had been coursing through me suddenly vanished; I was speechless. Athena silently glided over to me and put her small arms around my chest, her chin resting on my shoulder. "It was better." Her breath tickled my neck, but suddenly I was very happy again.

"I love you," I said without thinking.

"I love you too," Athena echoed, rising on her toes to kiss me.

(**A/N: So, I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry for the wait, I had a HUGE writers block and it's been slow. I've wanted their wedding for a long time though, so yeah. BTW, tell me what Caius should do to Aro if he ever speaks of his sex life ever again. I need suggestions!!)**


	19. Chapter 19

Red

Athena and I went down to the ballroom where, as soon as we entered, soft music began to play. There were rose petals strewn artfully around the floor, while large vases held arrangements of red roses in full bloom.

We went from walking into the room, to dancing a waltz. I didn't like to dance, but I could continue this one moment in time forever and still be happy. I was perfectly content with my arm around her delicate waist, holding her closer to me. Her hand rested lightly on my shoulder and we, as one being, moved across the marble floor, in time with the music.

"Athena, I'm going to say this now, before I forget," I said. "You look stunning." I laughed a bit, because I knew I would never forget. "Also, though I'm not into women's fashion, your dress is very nice," I refrained from saying sexy, "…it _fits_ you."

And indeed it did. It was white lace embroidered on a sheer layer of cloth that went on top of the actual silk dress. There were diamonds scattered in the middle of the lace, which I realized a bit late were flowers. Just under the bust line silver thread was woven into the dress, forming a nice band that looked very elegant. The dress might be considered scandalous because of its sleeves, or lack of, but the straplessness of it made her look very sophisticated and more beautiful. After all, who really cared that her elbows were showing?

Finally the music ended and we stopped dancing though not for very long. The string quartet began to play a different song, and we switched partners. I danced with Sulpicia while Athena danced with Aro, my poor wife… Sulpicia and I didn't talk much, though she did have a mischievous gleam in her eye which meant someone would be getting a very nasty surprise soon, though I didn't have any idea who it might me.

After the dancing was over, the toast commenced. Aro gave a speech about how surprised he was that I had the capacity to love. Marcus spoke, it really wasn't enough words to be considered a speech, on love and how we were perfect for each other. Sulpicia gave a speech on the future, how we should anticipate each other having a brilliant future with our lives entwined. With a resounding 'cheers' we all drank the blood that was in our goblets and once again the music began to play.

I led Athenodora out into the gardens where we walked in silence. The gardens had been decorated and there were candles everywhere, casting soft shadows and making us glitter ever so slightly, almost like a glow. She looked so lovely, it made me lose track of my thoughts for a bit, after, it made me wonder if every man felt like this at their wedding. Perhaps vampires weren't so different from humans after all…

I gently squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back, for some reason that made me happy. I gently raised her hand and kissed it. She laughed slightly,

"Was there a reason for that?"

"No," I shrugged. "Love makes us do crazy things. Especially to me." She smiled wryly and kissed me.

"There you two are!" The annoying voice that said those words could belong to none other than Aro. Athena and I let out a simultaneous groan as we were forced to pay attention to Aro's probably pointless words.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"A lot of things," Aro said dismissively, and then grinned, "but right now, you two. Inside. Now." I glanced at Athena and proceeded to walk with her and Aro back into the grand ballroom. There was a chair, really more like a throne, and I knew what this meant.

The garter.

How could I be falling to such levels of hopeless romanticism? Oh right, it wasn't hopeless; but still… Athena was totally oblivious to what was going to happen, it almost made me laugh. How had she, the most innocent and unaware girl fallen in love with _me_, the angry and cunning albino vampire? I swear, I asked that question _way_ to many times.

Sulpicia was dragging a completely clueless Athena to the chair with a smug expression on her face. Athena looked dazed and confused as I was brought in front of her by Aro and made to kneel.

"Caius?" Athena asked as I gently pushed up the hem of her dress; higher, and higher, and _higher_.

"Sorry," I muttered as I leaned down to bite the frilly band that was currently around her thigh.

"Oh," I heard her gasp slightly as my lips touched her leg ever so slightly. "So _that's_ what the band was for." I wanted to ask what she thought it was for before this but decided perhaps I didn't want to know.

I quickly took off the garter and was mildly relieved that my part was over. At least garters didn't go on males…very, _very _relieved at that. I waited approximately five seconds for all single males to accumulate behind me and then I tossed the band behind me; finding it slightly amusing at hearing the males fight for it. I didn't even pay attention to who caught it though. As far as I was concerned, it was Athena's turn to toss her bouquet of red roses.

Giddy single females gathered behind her and with one graceful sweep she sent the bouquet flying through the air until it landed in Jane's small hands. Her jaw dropped and she seemed genuinely astonished; poor girl. If only she knew that years (centuries) later, people would still tease her about it.

Next came the 'cake' which consisted of the sweetest smelling humans Heidi could find. I wasn't thirsty enough to want to kill humans on my wedding day; apparently Athena shared that sentiment with me. She found me outside, in a place where the screams could not be heard.

"Being a vampire wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for _that_," Athena said, sitting down next to me on a bench.

"I know," I sighed, "but there's nothing we can do about it."

"Well you could be a vegetarian with me."

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I meant there's nothing we can do about being vampires."

"Oh, _that_," Athena said. She was quiet for awhile before she pulled me up and made me dance; though there was no music. "It's not so bad," she shrugged. She gave me a seductive look and I momentarily faltered in the dance steps as I lost my concentration. "It has its perks."

"Like being able to seduce me?" I asked, referring to the look she gave me.

"No," she laughed, "I could already do that when I was human."

"True…" I murmured, though she did not hear it; she was talking about something else. I just tried to enjoy the moment, I wished I could last forever. In a sense, it would, but in another, I knew I might never return to the Caius I was now, and though I would never admit it, that terrified me.

"You know, for someone who doesn't like to dance your very good at it," Athena said.

"It wasn't without sacrifice," I said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I had practice, lessons if you will, for this day. A joint effort between Marcus, Didyme, Aro and Sulpicia; they even took bets."

"Wow," Athena said, "just wow."

"Yeah," I agreed, "they won't let me forget it either. But it was necessary, I mean, you're a great dancer and I'm not."

"Weren't," Athena interrupted.

"What?" I asked.

"You _weren't_ a good dancer," she kissed my cheek, "but now you're great."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I said equivocally. Athena smiled, and I let her fall into a dip.

"Very nice," she breathed, coming back up, and then doing a spin. She turned and then locked her arms back around my neck and we resumed a gentle sway.

"Let's go back inside," she whispered, and we did.

"Oh, there you two are!" Heidi said. "Sulpicia has been looking all over for you two. Well, Athenodora."

"Go," I said, knowing Sulpicia wasn't a particularly patient person. Athenodora giggled and ran up the winding staircase to Sulpicia's room. I went outside making sure all the preparations for our honeymoon were arranged correctly. Everything was perfect, and now all I could do was hope that Athena liked it.


	20. Chapter 20

Night

"Well, do you like it?" I asked Athena.

"A carriage?" Athena asked, turning to look at me after she learned what I had arranged for our method of transportation until we got to Greece. I knew it was a stupid idea.

"Aw, Caius, it's perfect!" she said, breaking out into a glorious smile.

"Really? You like it?" I couldn't believe it. "I know you're a princess and so I thought this would be fitting."

"It is, that's very thoughtful, I can't wait to see inside!" she grabbed my hand and dashed to the carriage swinging open the door before I could for her. The inside was all soft, dark red velvet seats with heavy black curtains that did not allow visibility from the outside, but did from the inside. There were a few candles to provide lighting and a small, covered, window so we could speak to the driver. Overall it wasn't too cramped and it really was quite comfortable. Things I was glad I had paid attention to since this would be a long journey.

An hour into the journey Athena finally asked me where we were going. I shook my head.

"It's a surprise."

"Tell me. You know I can always just convince the driver to tell me if you don't."

"Hmm," I actually pretended to consider, "No."

"Fine," she sighed, "you leave me no choice, I'll have to ask the driver."

"He won't tell you," I said.

"Oh," Athena raised her eyebrows. She twirled a strand of her golden hair around her finger. "I have my ways."

"Love," I laughed, "if it were for seduction, I'm sure he would tell you. But as it is, that's the reason I hired a mute." Athena scowled.

"A hint then?" she gave me her puppy dog eyes.

"Sunny," I kissed her, "beautiful," I kissed her again, "like you." I kissed her a final time. She laughed lightly and I knew she would be blushing though her face remained pale.

"You know, it's kind of entertaining that you only talk about my beauty."

"And…?" I asked, not really getting where she was going with that statement; she wasn't self-centered so I knew she wasn't fishing for more compliments.

"Well I mean, it never gives me a chance to talk about yours." She said, almost, _embarrassed_.

"My what?" I asked, not understanding what she was telling me. She rolled her eyes and suddenly I understood. "Oh. OH! You think I'm..._pretty_?" I asked.

"Don't say pretty it sounds so…feminine, but handsome. Whether you realize it or not you're quite attractive." Athena explained.

"You're probably the _only_ person who thinks that," I muttered. She shook her head.

"Honey, you must be exceptionally unobservant because obviously you've missed the head's of women turn robotically whenever you walk by. I mean, look at this _hair_. It's _gorgeous_!" She grabbed a handful of my hair and let it fall slowly through her fingers.

"It's _white_!" I retorted. My hair was in a whole other category as far as hair goes. I mean, I'm not even _old_ and I have white hair. What is up with that?

"It's _sexy_!" Athena responded. Well that caught me by surprise; I was _definitely _not expecting that. "Well it _is_."

"Okay then," I said, running my hand through my hair without thinking. "I'll, uh, keep that in mind." She laughed, and eventually I joined in. "So why did Sulpicia want to talk to you?" I asked.

"I don't know," Athena said a bit guiltily, "I wasn't really paying much attention but she mentioned something about _lingerie_. Do you know what that is?"

"Lingerie…" I repeated, searching my vampire memory for any recollection of the word's meaning. "Nope, never heard of it."

"Huh," Athena shrugged, "guess we'll find out later." Everything inside the carriage fell silent as our conversation ended. Athena looked out the window at the dark landscape and I simply thought about what was to come.

*****

A day and a half later when we were only a few hours from our final destination Athena wanted to stop the carriage.

"What is it?" I asked, concerned something was wrong with her.

"Caius, for real, where are we? I've been here…" she asked, staring wide-eyed at the crowded city.

"You probably have, Love," I whispered into her hair. I switched seats in the carriage so I was sitting beside her.

"We're in Greece?!" Athena asked, quickly glancing at me.

"Surprise!" I said with as much enthusiasm I could muster.

"I haven't been here in so long!" Athena smiled happily. "I can see my family, and my old home, and, oh Caius this is so perfect!" I simply nodded, not having the heart to tell her that seeing her family probably wasn't the best thing to do. "You know, this is almost my city?" she asked though we had passed it awhile back.

"Are you referring to the fact that the city is named _Athens_ after Athena, or that you're royalty here?" I asked.

"Royalty," Athena smiled, "though the name thing is cool too. Technically you're a Prince here. I mean, if I was the eldest daughter then you'd be King as soon as my father dies, but I'm the second so you'll have to be happy with Prince." I laughed.

"And you? Do you want to be a Princess or a Queen?"

"Hmm, I don't know," Athena said.

"Well, lucky you, you get both."

"Both?" she asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're a Princess here, and you're a Queen of the vampire world," I said simply.

"Ha ha," Athena laughed, "I'm not the second one yet."

"But you will be," I assured, pulling her into my lap. She rested her head on my shoulder and if she was human I would've sworn she fell asleep. This became very convenient when we reached our final stop because it was easy to pick her up and swing her out of the carriage.

Her eyes flew open. "We're there, I assume?" she asked. I chuckled.

"Yes, Princess," I bowed my head and set her down. I heard her suck in a breath as she took in where we would be staying. It was made all of stone with a rounded front that spread out and let into an arched hallway. On one side of the hallway there was a garden that had a small stream running through it. On the other side of the hallway/bridge the stream continued to flow and a ways a way you could see where it met the ocean. The hallway, however, led into a large stone antechamber which had several rooms and hallways branching out of it. One of the hallways spiraled up and led to the floor where our bedroom was located.

This "beach castle" was designed by Marcus, and was originally going to be a gift for Didyme, but since she…died he decided to give it as a wedding gift to me and Athenodora. I had named it La Dea, it meant goddess in Greek, fitting, right?

"Caius!!" I heard Athena yell from upstairs and ran to see what she wanted. Her eyes were glued on the bed. The _huge_ bed.

"Oh my," I said, I mean, that really was just massive. "I think Marcus might have gone a bit overboard."

"A bit?" Athena asked sarcastically.

"Okay, a lot," I conceded, although I couldn't exactly say I was sorry about it.

"So…" Athena said nervously after getting over the initial shock. "What do you want to do?"

"I think you know what I _want_ to do," I smiled, "but first, perhaps a nice refreshing swim?"

"Won't there be people?" Athena asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," I whispered, "the best part of this place is that there are no people. We can do whatever you like."

"That means can go out during the day," Athenodora said, and smiled happily. "This is going to be perfect!"

"I'm glad you like it," I murmured. "I'll wait for you in the water." I kissed the tip of her nose and then turned to head to the beach. I subtly left my shirt hanging on the bed post before I left the room. I walked the short trail that led to the beach and finally stood just so the water reached my ankles. I had forgotten how good the sun felt, it almost made me feel warm, and as soon as I moved into the shadows again it left me thirsting for more.

With a sigh, I dived into the water swimming out fifty meters into the calm open ocean. It wasn't long before I saw a shining object coming from the shore. My wife. You couldn't possibly imagine how good it felt to say she was my wife.

Once it was deep enough she dived underwater and swam towards me. I was prepared for her to resurface when she came, I didn't plan, however, for her to pull my leg and make me fall backwards before resurfacing. She laughed freely and it was the single most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed. I was almost sad to hear it cut off when I grabbed her arm and pulled her down with me.

Underwater was like being in a whole different world. Her long silky hair spread out in every single direction, a halo of golden goodness. They way the sunlight filtered through water and casted glowing designs across her body made _my_ body feel things I didn't think possible. Things that I realized were growing into needs that could not be left unfulfilled for long. I groaned and swam down to the same level she was at.

She smiled, and then took my hand and swam upwards. We both resurfaced at the same time with small splashes. Water beaded down her hair and face rendering me again as nothing but putty in her hands.

"That was refreshing," she whispered.

"Yes," I nodded, gently tilting back and floating. I doubted she noticed my hands clenched into fists from restraint. She put an arm across my chest to prevent me from drifting off too far; a bit pointless since there was no way I was going to let myself drift far away from her. When her lips replaced her hand I threw my restraint out the window and my arms instantly closed around her waist and stood up.

I carried her and ran back to the house, gently dropping her on the bed. She laughed and made a very provocative position. I swear I drooled a bit of venom, before I growled and joined her. The bed, which had seemed so big at first, now seemed to be quite confining. She purred and pushed me up against the headboard, her hands already lost in my hair while her lips were mashed against my own. Somehow during this exchange, I managed to say, in a rational voice, that I loved her.

"I love you too," she replied, her voice hoarse, but completely serious. That's when the night began.

* * *

(A/N: Sorry to anyone who wanted lemons/smut, but i just don't write that so, yeah, sorry. I didn't want to make it like E/B's honeymoon to much so tell me what you think. Reviews are love.)


	21. Chapter 21

Misunderstanding

Vampires never sleep.

That doesn't mean we don't pretend to sometimes. This morning was definitely one of those times. It was one of those mornings where you don't want the dream from last night to end. Oh, except, you know the dream actually happened. Satisfaction radiated from every single non-living cell in my body as I came to realize what had happened last night.

I opened my eyes to see Athena's head resting atop my chest while the sunlight filtering through the window made her sparkle. I gently ran my hand through her hair until she slowly opened her eyes and smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back at that perfect angelic face.

"So what are we going to do today?" she asked softly.

"Whatever you want," I said.

"That's helpful," she sighed, "what if I said I wanted to go jump off a cliff?"

"I'd push you off," I teased, "you're a vampire, jumping off a cliff wouldn't give you a scratch."

"And if I said I wanted to hunt werewolves?"

"I'd hold you back in my arms and find a means to distract you," I growled.

"Caius, can we hunt werewolves today?" she asked, smiling.

"Athena, as far as I'm concerned, we can hunt werewolves every single day of the week here." Athena laughed at my answer and kissed me.

"How about we go for a walk?" she suggested, a bit more rationally if I may say so myself.

"A walk would be delightful," I agreed, sitting up.

"I'm going to take a quick bath and I'll meet you downstairs," she said, standing up.

"I'll have breakfast ready," I smiled and put on a robe before descending down the stairs. I found two silver goblets in one of the shelves located to the right of the kitchen; now the matter lie only in filling the cups.

I ran in the direction of the surrounding wilderness, intending to find the largest animal possible so the blood would be sweeter. No point in drinking a dull squirrel on their honeymoon, was there? I was planning on some sort of wild cat, but stumbled upon something better. Monkeys. (A/N: I don't actually know if there are monkeys in Greece, it just works for this part of the story) Monkeys, though not as large as other animals were more closely related to humans, and thus, their blood was sufficiently sweet. However, chasing them through the trees was not a pleasant experience.

The monkeys swung nimbly, almost gracefully, from branch to branch, tree to tree; while I awkwardly swung from the lower branches trying to catch the blasted monkeys. It was definitely safe to say I was glad I was alone with no one to embarrass me, though as soon as Aro read my mind…no matter, I had something nasty in store for him for intruding upon my love life.

Finally, I caught, and killed, one of the damn monkeys and ran back to La Dea. I tried to fill the goblets as fast as I could, preferably before Athena came downstairs, and almost succeeded. Almost.

"Caius?" Athena asked as she came down the stairs. I was straining to fill the second goblet when she came into view and swiftly hid the depleted monkey behind my back. "Caius," her tone was firm, "are you holding a monkey behind your back?" Her voice was incredulous, but then grew to sarcastic, "or did you suddenly grow a tail?" She began to get a kick out of my unresponsive state. "If so, you hid it miraculously well last night." She laughed , and turned around to fix her wet hair in a looking-glass. Before she could turn back around I threw the monkey out the window, and then looked back to Athena. She raised her eyebrow and it was easy to see why was trying to hide a smile. Oh right, a _looking glass;_ she had seen everything.

"Hehe," I laughed a bit nervously, and shuffled around the kitchen trying to make it look like I had something to do. In one turn about the kitchen I saw her laughing silently while watching me. "Do I entertain you?" I asked frankly.

"Very much so," she smiled coyly and took a sip from her goblet. I stared at her, a bit speechless, though not out of being embarrassed nor surprised, simply…calm into the remission of no words. She put down her goblet and stood up, coming to me and putting her arms around my neck. "As much as I wish for you to entertain me for the rest of the day, I do believe we agreed upon a walk?"

"Oh, yes," I said, taken out of my strange reverie. I smiled down at her and ducked out of the vice her arms held around her neck before simply just taking her hand. We walked to the door before she stopped.

"Hold on a second, Sulpicia wanted me to wear the things she packed while we were here. You don't mind the wait, do you?" she asked.

"Of course not," I replied. She took the stairs all in one great leap and I could hear her rummaging through some clothes.

"CAIUS!" Athena screamed from our room. I quickly ran up to the room and asked Athena what the problem was. She looked up at me, confused. "I don't understand why Sulpicia put shreds of cloth in our trunks. Do you perhaps know?"

I walked over to where she stood and looked down to see what she was referring to. It looked like torn up clothes. How odd. I picked up one frill and found that it was connected to other strings of cloth and scanty pieces of cloth; it looked as if it formed an, an..._outfit_. "I believe it is meant to be worn."

She laughed, something I did not expect. "Good one, Cai, although a bit vulgar for you, don't you agree?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Well I doubt it is to decorate the room, or to stuff the pillows." I held the garment to hold it more in front of her figure. "And it…uh…covers certain…private areas."

"Have you gone blind, my love?" she asked me, "because if you think that covers, I shudder to think what you consider something that is scanty." Then quietly she added, "Besides, isn't the point of the honeymoon _not_ to cover areas?" She slapped my arm back since I was holding the..._clothes_.

"Temptation?" I suggested. Athena would look awfully tempting in that, especially considering she could wear a potato sack and still seduce me.

"Nah," Athena said nonchalantly, "Sulpicia knows I do that perfectly well without help."

"Well thanks," I tried to sound offended, resulting in her laughing and giving me a quick kiss. We both stood and wondered what was the meaning of the garments.

"Do you think this is the 'lingerie' that Sulpicia spoke of?" Athena asked me.

"Lingerie?" I asked. Lingerie referred to undergarments in one of the new languages called 'French'. "Maybe," I said, "In any case, how about we leave whatever Sulpicia packed for later and just enjoy our walk for now?"

"Okay," Athena said, hastily changing into a light white dress. We finally were able to commence our walk and began at the beach. Though I was often distracted by how magnificently she sparkled, I managed to hold my own in our conversation. After we had worn out a topic there would be silence. It wasn't awkward though, it was peaceful, and it gave respite before a whole other conversation began; as, in due time, one did.

"Have you ever loved another?" she asked, out of the blue.

"No," I said calmly, and it was true. I had never really given it much thought; being an emperor didn't allow much time for personal affairs. Perhaps once I became a vampire I might have dwelled on the thought a bit, but in truth, I usually thought having a mate would be much more of a burden than a comfort. Those were the good days… I smiled at the thought of her expression had she heard my thoughts, but instead, simply reinforced what I said. "Never. And you?"

"I thought I did once, when I was a servant of course," she said quietly, though I could tell she didn't think much of it; I, however, could not say the same. "When I was here though, my whole life was planned out for me. I was to marry some Prince from Crete and unite the two kingdoms. My parents, I'm sure, must have been disappointed when I disappeared they relied heavily on my matrimony for peace."

"I can't say I'm sorry to disappoint them," I grinned and squeezed her hand.

"I would like to see them," she said dreamily, and then I felt her jolt as she realized she _could_. "Oh can we Caius, can we see them? Please?"

"I thought the last things newlyweds want to do is see the in-laws," I tried to discourage her through humor.

She rolled her eyes, "Please?" she begged.

"No," I said softly, "I don't think we can."

"Why?" she asked, and I saw a spark of anger in her.

"It's against all that we stand for. How can we hope to gain control of our world if we don't live by the rules we have made?"

"Power?!" she said angrily, "Is that all you ever think of, power?"

"Of course not," I said, "I think of protecting our species, or friends, of you."

"And to think I might have believed what you said only a few moments ago!" she scorned, "But no, I see things very clearly now—" I doubted it "—you've only looked out for your own good this entire time! Well, I am determined to do what I want _for my good _and even if you try to defy me I _will_ get my way. The only question is whether you will come with me, or you will not."

"Athena," I grabbed her as she pulled away, "consider what you're doing. It's madness! We'll be discovered, and—"

"Let. Go. Of. Me. Caius." She spat out my name and I knew it best for me to let go of her. "I'll deal with the consequence of my actions when the time comes, but at least I will do it by myself, without anyone telling me what to do." She turned and quickly walked away. I kept pace with her, trying to make her see reason. She misunderstood what I was saying so as to think I thought _she_ was being unreasonable. "Just let me go, Caius!" she hissed and I slowly let her hand fall away from within my own. She ran, and because I loved her, or perhaps in spite of it, I didn't follow.


	22. Chapter 22

Cold

I stood rooted to the spot for more time than I cared to measure. As a matter of fact, night was beginning to descend when I realized exactly what had happened.

I ran. I didn't even stop a La Dea; I just ran. I ran all the way back to Volterra.

"Caius, brother, we've missed you!" Aro said happily, calling for Jane to inform Marcus of my return.

"I doubt it, Aro, I've only been gone for a day," I said sourly.

"Yes," Aro furrowed his brow, "Why so short of a time? On my honeymoon we were gone for _at least_ a month and—"

"I don't care!" I shouted angrily.

"My, my," Marcus's bored voice echoed in the room, "he seems to be in a worse mood than usual."

"Very observant, Marcus," Aro said sarcastically, "But, where is lovely Athenodora? You didn't leave her in Greece, did you?" he smirked.

"_I_ didn't leave her in Greece," I said, "it's more like she left me." Aro glanced at Marcus and busted out laughing while Marcus only chuckled.

"Marcus, you now owe me 2,000 shillings," Aro said, still laughing. Marcus sighed and nodded.

"YOU TOOK BETS?" I screeched advancing towards both of them.

Aro stopped laughing immediately and pointed to Marcus. "It was his idea." Marcus sighed and simply pointed to Aro.

It was my turn to laugh now."Really?" I asked sarcastically. I knew Marcus and there was no way it was his idea. He rarely spoke unless he absolutely needed to, or he was with me and Aro. He avoided any and all sources of enjoyment, save laughing at Aro sometimes, and had just lost his wife under mysterious circumstances. "I'm sure it was," I agreed, letting the matter drop.

"Why exactly _did _your wife leave you?" Marcus asked quietly.

"Brother," Aro smiled, resting his arm on Marcus's shoulder, "I'm surprised you have to ask." Marcus grimaced and shrugged Aro off. "I mean, with such temper and unbecoming looks is it really so astonishing? Although," Aro came over to me and examined my hair, "his hair is permissible."

"What is with the hair?" I asked, shooing Aro away. First Athena, now Aro! "Why don't you ever go up to Marcus and play with his hair?" I asked, going to Marcus and holding his hair in a ponytail. I quickly backed off, effectively avoiding Marcus's punch.

"Because, dear brother," Aro said, "My hair is very much like Marcus's hair so why discomfort him when I don't need to? I have my own wonderful, luscious, black hair to play with!" Marcus gave me a look that very clearly said: And you better not change his mind about that. I could only imagine Marcus's joy in the fact that Aro did not disturb him because of his 'wonderful, luscious, black' hair. "But yours, however," Aro said, coming back over to me while ignoring the furious glare I gave him. "It's just so…_white_."

"Thank you, Aro," I said acidly, "because I _never would have noticed_."

"Oh, you're very welcome," Aro smiled, all bubbles and happiness. Marcus cleared his throat, reminding me of his question.

"And as to your question, Marcus," I said coldly, "she wanted to be with her family in Greece." He raised his eyebrow and nodded, though I could still see he was curious. "I told her she couldn't. She was angered at my refusal, and some other things, and left."

"You forgot to mention the choice she gave you," Aro said, bored.

"How do you know?" I asked rudely.

Aro sighed and lifted his hand. "I _am_ the smarted vampire around." Marcus and I both rolled our eyes at the same time. At least I now knew he had used his talent, it was so…_gross_ to think he knew all my thoughts, especially about a particular night. "I see you particularly enjoyed it, Caius," Aro said pensively, "skinny dipping…I'll have to remember that."

"Aro Volturi!" I hissed and walked over to where Aro was and shoved him into the wall. Marcus crossed his arms while retaining a _you-so-deserved-that _look on his face while watching Aro. "One more word from you, _one_, and I will personally tear you to pieces, separate your head from your body and…and…_castrate you_!" I felt Aro wince and saw Marcus shudder.

"What a strange form of punishment," I heard Marcus mutter.

"Caius, no need to be so violent," Aro said peacefully while trying to get away from me.

"And if that does not shut you up I _will_ kill you," I finished.

"After castration I believe that will be a most welcome blessing," Aro said lightly.

"Not if it's Marcus," I said so only Aro could hear.

"Marcus?" Aro asked in the same quiet tone.

"Of course Marcus," I said darkly, and then thought: _imagine if I told him the _true_ fate of his beloved wife._ I knew Aro wouldn't waste time reading all my thoughts again just this one, the one I _wanted_ him to read.

"I would rather have castration," Aro whimpered. I nodded, if I were in his position, I probably would too.

"But, as it is, you can save your...uh…body by never speaking a word about my private life ever again."

"Agreed," Aro said immediately and I dropped him from my grasp.

"Now, where were we?" I asked in a pleasant voice.

"Before your threat on Aro's…body, I believe we were speaking of why your wife left you," Marcus said.

"Oh yes," I said, "well, she gave me the ultimatum: I leave alone, or I leave and you come with me. I suppose you can tell which one I chose." And I was already beginning to regret that decision now.

"How tragic," Aro sighed, "but no worries, Marcus and I will help you cope until she comes back."

"Or you go looking for her," Marcus added.

"That makes me feel _so _much better," I said sarcastically. Yet, knowing Athenodora, I was inclined that I would go for the latter.

"Caius!" Finally a different voice rang down the hallway as Sulpicia appeared. She gave me a hug, which though awkward, I dared not refuse in case Aro thought Sulpicia might be offended. "So, how was Greece?! And where is my sister?"

I looked away from her, suddenly finding the floor very interesting while Aro filled her in.

"Caius, you _idiot_!" was all she said before she walked away with Aro, leaving Marcus and I with an awkward silence. Marcus being there reminded me that the outcome to this story really could have been much worse. _At least she's not dead_, I thought, and wondered if this was even a fraction of what Marcus felt. Marcus nodded to me and left for his chambers while I was at a loss for what to do.

I slowly went up to my chambers and occupied myself with picking up where I had left off on my charts. In the midst of rummaging through the papers a picture of Athena I had drawn slipped out and fell. I remember when I drew the picture that I thought the picture didn't do her justice; and that was when she was human!

I put the picture away, determined not to think of her and instead went to the art room. I felt an unnatural air of sadness upon entering and again felt bad for Marcus. This room used to be where he spent most of his time, and it was easy to see why. Didyme was by far the most drawn, painted, and sculpted object in the room. I wondered whether Marcus loved or hated this room; whether seeing Didyme brought overwhelming pain or overwhelming love, or a combination. Then, upon thinking of this, I felt guilty, that I should be moping over the loss of my love, who was not dead, when I didn't have as much of a reason to as him, who would live for an eternity to come without the one he loved most be his side.

I glanced at a large portrait of Didyme and almost felt as if she was here. Marcus had drawn her so well, so lifelike and I envied him for having the gift of art. It was easy to tell what Didyme was thinking about in the picture; it showed in her eyes, literally. You could see a very, very tiny and almost indecipherable image of Marcus there, I wondered if Marcus always needed Didyme to be physically present to draw her, or if he could draw her from memory alone.

I moved on from the picture of Didyme to the one of Marcus that was right beside it. Considering the Marcus now, and the one in the picture, one would have thought they were two different people. The portrait Marcus was smiling and his eyes had life in them, a certain depth. The Marcus I knew now rarely smiled and his eyes were bottomless; bottomless in the remorse, pain and anguish he retained. The portrait was different from the one of Didyme. Didyme's portrait had a softness to it, it was obvious that the one who had drawn her, Marcus, held an overwhelming love for his subject. In the one of Marcus it was simply a smiling Marcus, but there was no apparent feeling from the painter to the subject. I wondered who had made it but didn't care to go through the trouble to actually find out.

The next painting was of Aro. The painter couldn't have captured Aro being most like him than he had in the painting. Aro was laughing hysterically at something which led to the rest of the nature of the picture. I briefly compared the picture of Aro and Marcus noticing more the portraits how they looked alike than in real life.

Sulpicia's portrait hung beside Aro's and well, it was Sulpicia. She was lying down and staring at the painter, which meant she was staring at the audience. A slight smile adorned her lips as she stared seductively, captivating anyone's attention.

Beside Sulpicia's portrait was mine. I unfortunately couldn't remember much about the painter except that he tasted quite nicely. Now, upon looking at the painting, I wondered why I was the only one of my brothers who wasn't smiling. My expression was…expressionless, though I could see a faint scowl coloring my features. My hair seemed to have its own personality for in this picture it was all ruffled and disorderly which gave me an overall unruly appearance. Perfect.

Lastly, next to my picture hung the frame where Athenodora's picture would have gone…had she been here to model for it. I stared at the blank wall behind it before moving on to the statues.

So far only Didyme, Aro, and Thelmis had statues of themselves. Thelmis was the mother of Aro and Didyme and she really was beautiful. I imagine she had black hair though her statue was made in marble. She was the only fully nude statue of our family but for her it didn't matter, or maybe I only thought that because she was dead.

Aro's statue was quite like him, except for the fact he was serious. As if _that_ ever happened. I suppose many would think him handsome, just like many thought Marcus and I were handsome. But there was something in the way Aro _was_ that made him _Aro_. Didyme looked very much like Aro, though with distinctly feminine characteristics. She really was very pretty and often desired by many men; it was probably a _good_ thing that she was not portrayed nude in this instance. She looked so happy, if only she knew that her murderer was the one standing right next to her. It just didn't seem right. Then again, right now nothing seemed to be going the way anyone planned it to.


	23. Chapter 23

Distraction

A month passed without any importance except more time passing since I had seen Athena. I rarely ever left my rooms, not seeing any purpose in going downstairs to see a hyperactive Aro, seductive Sulpicia, and an apathetic Marcus. Of course this did lead to rumors circulating from the guard. My personal favorite was that I had become homosexual and had to abstain from seeing Marcus. (No offense to anyone)Well, at least the Guard was getting a kick out of me and Marcus's misfortune.

I was surprised that Aro never once tried to coax me out of my room; knowing his annoying nature it was definitely shocking. Because of this it was quite an amazement when _Sulpicia_, of all people, came to persuade me to come out of my room.

"Caius!" she shouted, banging on my door. I was reading a very nice book and simply remained silent hoping she would go away. Finally her knocking stopped and I smiled in satisfaction thinking I had won. That is to say, that's what I thought _before_ she broke down my door. "Caius," she said amiably while putting my door back in its frame.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked, putting down my book.

"Probably not," she said, "but it was fun."

"I hope the Guard doesn't get any ideas from you," I sighed, knowing she delighted in the power of being Aro's wife. She shrugged.

"Come downstairs. I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" I asked, this couldn't be good…

"Yes , a surprise because its cloudy today, now hurry," she said, looking around, presumably to throw something at me to hurry me up. I got up, it couldn't be _that_ bad, could it? She bounced around happily at my compliance and made sure I followed her all the way downstairs. She then led me out to the garden where there was a human woman with a sketchpad.

"Sulpicia…" I said warningly.

"Stand there," Sulpicia pointed to a cleared area. I did as she said but was still waiting for an explanation. "Now, this is Marcus's art student. She is going to sketch you, and then going to make a sculpture based on the sketches. Enjoy it, and Aro said if you try to get out of it Jane will convince you otherwise. Eliza, he's all yours." Sulpicia nodded to both of us and then left. Eliza nervously set about sketching something and then I saw her pause for a long time while studying me.

I wasn't angry really, annoyed perhaps, but what other waste of time did I have, and it would distract me, I hope. A month without Athena was taking its toll on me and I wondered how long I was going to be able to keep this up before I went back and begged for her to take me back.

Marcus came out and spoke to Eliza for a second, pointed out some things and then listened to what she had to say. She nervously gestured and pointed to me while speaking in a foreign tongue that I couldn't decipher easily. Marcus laughed and then turned to me.

"Well?" I asked.

"You need to take off your clothes," he said simply.

"I don't think so," I said vehemently.

"I _do_ think so, and you _will_ do this so you might as well get it over with," he said. "Or there is always Jane…"

"Fine," I growled and removed my outer tunic. He waited to make sure I complied to what he said. "Marcus, get out of here, I am not stripping until you leave." He shrugged, said something to Eliza and then returned inside. I made sure his footsteps went away, not that I thought Marcus would want to see me naked, just as assurance of my dignity. With an inward groan I took off the rest of my clothes and wished for this to end as soon as possible.

I heard her breathing accelerate when she glanced up but soon composed herself and sketched swiftly. The sounds of the charcoal on the paper was almost soothing and I supposed if I was human would have made me drowsy.

"You may dress yourself again," her soft voice informed me. I happily put my clothes back on and was ready to go back inside but she stayed me. "Oh no, Sir, I must now sketch your face." I made a face but stayed put. She came with her sketchpad and stood only a foot away from me. She had a delicious scent, but that was overshadowed by what I realized to be her very beautiful face.

How had I spent the last two hours without realized what a pretty little thing she was. She would sometimes touch my lips, cheeks, and hair and then sketch furiously. I assumed this was all for the sake of art until I unknowingly caught her hand as it skimmed across my face.

"I'm sorry," I stuttered, not really believe I had just done what I did. Was this compensation for no Athena? No, I couldn't get over her simply like this, I loved Athena and this was just some pretty girl who had unknowingly been assigned to draw a depressed man. I let go of her hand and she never touched me again, though her breath remained accelerated for the rest of the drawing period.

At last she was done and we both quickly walked inside. We passed Aro and Marcus and I glared at them, though they pretended not to notice. Marcus came over to Eliza and quickly analyzed over her work; he commended her no a few things and corrected her on others.

"Brother," Aro called me away.

"What?" I asked, sure he was going to waste my time.

"I have come up with a plan."

"A plan for what?" I asked, maybe it had something to do with the Romanian's. I _needed_ something to take my mind of Athena.

"For getting your wife back," Aro said enthusiastically. Never mind, I groaned, this was a bad idea. Yet her last words to me echoed in my head; "_Just let me go_._"_ Of course, that was the problem: I couldn't.


	24. Chapter 24

Unexpected

"Aro," I said.

"Yes?"

"You're an idiot."

"I most certainly am _not_," Aro said. He turned to Marcus. "Marcus, tell him I am not an idiot."

"You're an idiot," Marcus agreed with me. Sulpicia smiled in an attempt not to laugh, and put her hand over Aro's.

"Don't listen to them, Ro, they're just trying to irk you." Aro just looked away. "Now Aro, why don't we think this over?" Sulpicia said softly.

"Because Caius doesn't like my plan and he called me an idiot," Aro said petulantly.

"Well Caius is an asshole and you shouldn't listen to him." Aro smiled at Sulpicia's words, while I rolled my eyes.

"You're right, Sully," Aro exulted and kissed his wife. Marcus and I both glared at him, currently being wifeless made Aro flaunt his Sulpicia more. For the third time in five minutes I wanted to punch Aro. I wondered how Marcus managed…

"You know, who voted the five year old as our leader?" I asked no one in particular. Marcus smiled slightly and shrugged. Aro made no notice of hearing what I said and continued being his retarded self. For a second I wondered if he would get better or worse with time.

"You know Sully, Marcus still owes me money from our bet on Caius…" Worse, definitely worse. This was so frustrating! I huffed and left the room going outside though I didn't have a set destination. I decided that I might as well go to Rome and oversee matters there; there was still the Jesus problem that needed to be solved.

It was a bittersweet feeling when I saw my colossal house. It reminded me of Athena, where we had first met, and I realized I missed her much more than I let on. It nagged at the back of my brain; constant, unrelenting, painful...mostly because I knew she was right. I entered my Romanesque house without any of the servants seeing me and tried to catch up on the news from their gossip. So Jesus had eleven disciples, one more couldn't hurt.

I sought out Jesus by the Temple until I found him preaching to eleven humans who I assumed were his disciples.

"Your name?" he asked.

"Judas," I said.

"Judas…" Jesus contemplated and then handed me a loaf of bread. "Come, join us in our celebration." He gestured to the 'celebration' he was having with his disciples, it looked like they were praying…fun.

"Thank you," I said, nodding to the others and sitting down on the ground as they were.

"My brothers," Jesus announced, " we have a new addition to our family. Judas." The other men clapped and proceeded to introduce themselves to me. Jesus studied me the entire time, which really became quite disconcerting. "Judas, if you would join us in our trip to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover?"

"Of course," I bowed. This would give me a perfect opportunity to alert Aro and finish Jesus off once and for all. However much the victory of killing him would be though, I still had to listen to his sermon. I almost believed vampires could sleep after listening to Jesus for the next four hours. At the end of the torture I hastily got up and left, gathering odd looks from his other disciples, not that I cared.

I went back to my house, officially told the servants I was home and then sent a Page to tell Aro of what I had discovered. I then changed from my black robes to the more elite, colorful, governmental ones. Now I had to go to Court and find a way to convict Jesus; I suppose coming to Rome after all wasn't such a bad idea. I had to refresh the thick skulls of the other officials, they had somewhat forgotten my last speech, and eventually retired to my own study.

I groaned as I saw the stack of scrolls in front piled up on my desk; they were time consuming, even for a vampire. I sighed and began to sift through the pile, searching for an official seal; hoping for it to be somewhat important.

There was some news of Egypt, which was having a good harvest and wanted to start new trade exports with us. I scanned the letter, learning that it requested my visit in their kingdom. I hadn't been to Egypt in a long time, and decided I might as well go; it was far enough away to hopefully forget everything that was happening here. The sun would be a problem, but I knew several ways to avoid that problem.

I quickly wrote back, telling them I would go for four days. Considering how long it would take for humans to send my message, it would at least be a week before my letter was returned. To solve my dilemma I decided to make a Guard member send it, seeing as any vampire could run the distance in one day.

*****

Egypt was hotter than I remembered that was definitely something considering I was the temperature of ice; Aro joked that my heart was just as cold as my actual temperature, it was nice to be away from him. However, he had insisted Sulpicia come because she wanted to get out of the castle for a bit. On the way, Sulpicia and I had agreed to be a couple here; it would just make things easier and keep the men or women from the Egyptian court away from us.

"Caius, isn't this exciting?" Sulpicia asked happily, "I've never been to Egypt before."

"Great," I said sarcastically; sometimes Sulpicia was _way_ too much like her husband, making me instantly averse to their happy moods.

"Where are we going to stay?" Sulpicia asked, no doubt looking for an opportunity to decorate.

"In the Pharaoh's palace," I said uncaringly, I was contemplating the sun problem now. Sulpicia could wear the long Egyptian women's dress, but that didn't solve the problem for me; men here usually went around shirtless with a white, skillfully folded loincloth for the bottom. Another solution was, since we were royalty here, to have slaves carry palm leaves and hope we were never exposed to the sun. Third, and the strangest, was one Aro had devised to put a concealing skin-tone powder on any part of our body that would be exposed to the sun and that would conceal it. Sulpicia could probably use it, but me, well, I would have so much skin showing that there wasn't a lot of powder to go around. Perhaps though, I could use the powder sparsely and in conjunction with the leaves…perhaps it could work.

"Why do we have to travel on camels?" Sulpicia complained, "They smell bad." I laughed and in an odd act of kindness petted the head of my camel, in return it cocked its head to look at me and spit. You'd be surprised at the precision camels have because I got hit right in the forehead.

"And this is my repayment for being nice, perhaps there's a moral to this."Sulpicia started laughing so hard she almost fell off her camel; though any of the men in our caravan looked like they wouldn't mind catching her if she fell.

"Well, it could be worse," Sulpicia said still laughing, "he could have hit you in the hair and then your luscious white hair would be ruined for today."

"Sulpicia, only _you_ would come to that conclusion," I grumbled, wiping of the slime with a rag hanging on the side of the saddle.

"Caius, only a _camel_ would spit at you," Sulpicia replied, laughing hysterically again. I rolled my eyes, thinking of a way to bribe Sulpicia so she wouldn't tell anybody. Aro of course would find out, but it was easy enough to blackmail him about Didyme, Sulpicia…perhaps I could threaten to slip the word on her 'single' status and watch the men here annoy her to death. Oh, the possibilities with Sulpicia…

"We have reached Egypt," said the man leading the caravan. Sure enough, up ahead was the enormous palace of the Pharaoh. It was adorned with huge statues of his family and gods; guards and servants roamed _everywhere_.

"Welcome, my friend," greeted one of Pharaoh's advisors, "we are pleased you could come, rarely anyone braves the desert heat." I made the camel get down on its knees and then dismounted.

"I know why," I said wryly and then, because I am _such_ a gentleman, helped Sulpicia from her camel.

"I didn't know you came with company," the man smiled at Sulpicia and gave her a short bow.

"I like to travel," Sulpicia smiled slightly. Poor man, poor, poor man. Sulpicia really wasn't playing nice; she left her skirts purposely hitched high on her thigh and was using a whispery voice that simply made you want to lean in closer. Her black eyes glittered and her smile was inviting; this was going to be a _long_ trip.

"Uh, er, that's very nice," the man stuttered and turned to lead the way into the palace. I gave Sulpicia a disapproving look who stuck her tongue out at me and we followed the man.

"Why do you make him suffer?" I asked quietly so only she would hear.

"Because it's fun," Sulpicia said simply.

"You're sounding like Jane now," I muttered and she laughed quietly. "I bet the poor man is hyperventilating right now."

"He is," Sulpicia said, "I'm surprised you can't hear him."

"Oh, I can hear him, I just tune it out, it makes me feel…_sympathy_."

"Sympathy…" Sulpicia rolled her eyes, "A capital crime for Caius Volturi, isn't it? As if you walking around shirtless here is going to give the women much sympathy."

"Well at least I don't provoke them intentionally," I defended," Unlike you, and you're a married woman! What would Aro think?"

"Aro would laugh," Sulpicia said, one hundred percent sure of herself, "and you're married too."

"That status is currently on hold right now," I hissed.

"Oh right, your _wife_ left you!" In one swift motion I pushed Sulpicia into the Anubis statue. The Advisor turned to us in horror and how Sulpicia had defiled the gods and I simply shrugged.

"Women." He nodded and began walking again. Sulpicia gave me a death glare and then walked into the building. I chuckled and followed her wondering what we would be finding in the Great Hall. The shamans were giving a small performance, there were some dancers, and the Pharaoh sat on his high throne. Everything stopped when we entered and at Pharaoh's order everyone bent in a bow. Sulpicia and I bowed back, slightly self conscious at the number of people here to greet us; royalty was so overrated sometimes. Back in Volterra it was easy to forget who we really were.

"King Caius," Pharaoh greeted us officially, "Queen Sulpicia, welcome."

"It is an honor to be here," I said evenly, the whole 'King, Queen' thing was slightly unnerving.

"Let the celebration begin!" Pharaoh announced and immediately the festivities commenced once again. Sulpicia and I managed to escape the party quickly, even if it was held in our honor. We went to our quarters, which were about ten rooms, and then we both went out to hunt. I preyed on the desert tomb raiders out in the calm, quiet desert night; I never saw Sulpicia so I guessed she decided on a city snack.

I wandered about the streets, finally coming back to the palace at around dawn. Sulpicia was already there and she was trying to figure out how to wrap the cloth dress thing around so it looked normal. I swear I heard a few vases break and a thud as she most likely got herself entwined and then fallen. Sulpicia was so predictable it cracked me up. I set about trying to learn hieroglyphics considering I had nothing better to do; it really wasn't that heard, just a lot of memorization which didn't strain my vampire brain at all.

There was a knock on my door and I quickly shoved all my papers away and politely answered.

"The Almighty Pharaoh wishes to have an audience with you and your…companion," the servant said as Sulpicia came into my room.

"Thank you," I nodded, and we followed him to the Great Hall where everyone was assembled.

"King Caius, it is my pleasure to inform you that we will be having another royal visit during your stay here," Pharaoh said.

"Who?" Sulpicia asked politely.

"The royal family of Greece. They have recently found their long lost daughter and want to show her beauty to the world. They have decided to come to Egypt first." Pharaoh seemed delighted; me…not so much.

"Wonderful."

(A/N: I AM SOOOOOOO sorry for the long wait on this one. I had a huge writer's block at first and then school started and AP's are not forgiving. X_X Well, i hope u enjoy, its sort of an inbetween / waste time chapter but with a plot...if that makes sense. i hope u enjoy it. Reviews are loved.)

P.S. i might not be updating as often cause of school but ill try XD


	25. Chapter 25

Games

"Yes!" Sulpicia danced around the room happily, "this is going to be _perfect_."

"Enlighten me as to how this is going to be perfect," I hissed, hitting the statue of a god and pulverizing it.

"I know you think I'm stupid," Sulpicia stopped for a second, "but you need her, and how adorable would it be if you have to make her want you again by playing the games of the Court?"

"Adorable?" I asked, "you know I'm terrible at court elegant parley."

"And that's why this is going to be perfect," Sulpicia put her arms on my shoulders, "because I'm going to teach you."

"This is going to be a disaster."

*****

"These are our guests from Greece. King Kronos and Queen Delphina, High Princess Saphira, Princess Fiona, and Princess Athenodora." Pharaoh announced to his Court, standing up. Sure enough, in the middle of the Throne Room stood an old man and woman, two pretty females, and Athenodora; unchanged since the last time I saw her.

"Friends," Pharaoh said to them, "you are not the only visiting royalty here. From Rome we have King Caius and Queen Sulpicia. They came yesterday and will be staying for three days now."

"Rome…" King Kronos murmured, "I haven't been there for so long, I should like to speak to King Caius."

"And his wife is so pretty," Queen Delphina whispered. I smiled and put my arm around Sulpicia's waist.

"Thank you." Sulpicia elbowed me and whispered,

"One word to Aro about your harassment to me and your dead."

"Well, _he_ suggested we come as a married couple," I defended. She rolled her eyes and we actually paid attention to the proceedings again. Pharaoh began talking to the Grecian royal family at length and Sulpicia and I swiftly took our leave.

"Well, that was a good round one," Sulpicia said as soon as we were out of the hall.

"Since when is this a game?" I asked.

"Life is a game. _Love_ is a game. There is always a winner and a loser."

"Whatever you say." Sulpicia had clearly lost her mind…that is, if she ever had one.

"Oh, you're in denial," Sulpicia laughed, "if only Marcus and Aro were here." I shuddered at the very thought of Marcus and Aro being here. Now I really wanted Sulpicia to leave.

"Sulpicia, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that dress you're wearing is very unflattering for your figure and…" That was sure to get her away.

"What?" Sulpicia screeched, wrapping her arms around herself, "I was introduced to royalty looking bad?! NO!" and, as I planned, she left running into her room.

"Bye, love!" I called just to annoy her; perhaps there were possibilities in pretending to be married.

"Married to Sulpicia, are you now?" A haunting voice asked me. I slowly turned,

"Good evening, Princess," I said, "I did not know you were here."

"I saw you leave after the introductions, it made me wonder," she said simply.

"Strange, considering my affairs are no longer entwined with yours, Athenodora," I said.

"That's not what I was referring to. I was wondering why you would possibly say you were married to Sulpicia when that is obviously not the case."

"You're right," I nodded, "I don't know why I would possibly say I'm married, when I'm not. Anymore. As a matter of fact, why would anyone give everything they had when the receiver is ungrateful and selfish? Why do some people say they love someone and then break their heart the next day? Why?" The silence echoed between us. "It's illogical, it's stupid, and I fell into the trap. But I know better now, and I know to avoid it, because it only results in pain. But you wouldn't understand such things, would you, _princess_? I hope you're happy with the life you chose." I turned on my heel and left the hallway, wishing I could take back the words as soon as they left my mouth, but at the same time I couldn't quite fully regret them.

Sulpicia was waiting for me as soon as I entered my room.

"You. Idiot! You stupid idiot!" she screamed at me. "You ruined everything. Your marriage is out the window!"

"My marriage flew out the window when I fell in love with a human."

"True…" Sulpicia said pensively. "Wait your distracting me. Now, you go out there, and tell her you still love her or I will."

"Ooo, scary," I said sarcastically.

"1…….2…….2 and a half……" Sulpicia counted. I tapped my foot on the ground, knowing she never would.

"Well, at least we know you can count," I said, which if I hadn't known Sulpicia I would have thought as a surprise.

"Three," Sulpicia said and bolted out of the room. I had the distinct pleasure of hearing their entire conversation; Athenodora had been right outside my door to come in and tell me she was sorry. She heard everything.

Unsurprisingly, I wanted to shoot myself in the foot. Why the foot? Because if I killed myself I could never tell Athena, my Athena, that I still loved her, and forgave her and wanted to be with her forever…then repeat it a couple thousand times.

_I'm so weak_, I thought, _I wonder why she makes me suddenly go all soft. It's like I'm not even _me_ when I'm around her. This isn't good…_ I was suddenly very self conscious to the fact that my Egyptian garb left quite a bit of skin showing. I sighed and then calmed myself, going to read a book on the couch. I tuned out as much as I could from the women's conversation, though at times I gave in and listened, then felt guilty and so on.

There was a knock on my door and if my heart were beating it would have skipped a beat as I wondered who it could possibly be. I got up swiftly and opened it, surprised at who it was, or technically wasn't.

"Good evening, princess," I said formally.

"Good evening," Athenodora's sister curtsied. What was her name again, Delphina? Fiona? Saphira?

"I trust your journey was not too uncomfortable," I said.

"No, no. My family is too overjoyed at the return of my sister to really pay attention to anything else," she said with a tinge of sadness, I had a feeling Athenodora was making a lot of people jealous.

"Well, it has been a very long time, I'm sure," I tried to empathize.

"It has, we were very close when we were younger, she's so different now though… She likes to be alone, or walk in the gardens at night, she has a sad aura about her. I want to be able to talk to her, to make her feel better but she doesn't seem to want to. I wish I knew…she treats all the suitors at court so harshly."

"Suitors?" I couldn't help but ask.

She smiled ruefully. "Many suitors. She is so beautiful now, my entire family is jealous." I had to think about not agreeing with her so as not to appear as some stalker. "We've been asking her about her past but she refuses to speak about it. The only thing she says is that she was happy."

"Interesting," I murmured, wondering if perhaps I had misinterpreted what she had said. "And on that note, why exactly are you here?" Her face turned deep red from her blush and I knew things were going to go downhill from here.

"Because…uh, well, I have to go!" And she hightailed out of my room. I shook my head and went over to the open balcony on my room. From here I overlooked a small, private oasis/bath house that though it was kept clean, was obviously never really used. I decided to change that, and hopped from my balcony to the ground and then dived in the pool.

The cool water was refreshing; there really was no other way to put it. I didn't swim, though I knew how, I simply drifted to the bottom, closing my eyes; glad I didn't have to breath.

I didn't think, or at least I tried not to. I decided to resurface after awhile, in case anyone was watching. No one. I smiled contentedly and sank to the bottom again. This time I was face up at the bottom of the pool. I could see the blue sky through the clear water, and slowly closed my eyes again. Time passed…time always passes even when it seems like it doesn't. I could feel the cool waves under the water, it was refreshing and I felt like if I could I would probably be drifting off to sleep.

Inevitably, I started thinking of her; my angel, my Athena, my wife. I imagined her before me; the image so real that if I lifted my hand I would be able to touch her. I was so hopeless: so hopelessly in love with my wife.

I opened my eyes, ready to resurface again, when I saw _her_. She was drifting right above me; her golden hair a perfect circle drifting out from her head. It was a halo. She was staring at my face and she looked surprised/shy that I had found her. I shook my head, I couldn't I was imagining her…I must have been seriously depressed. I came up, but her hand jetted down and pushed me back down.

What? I wasn't dreaming? Figments of your imagine don't respond, right? No…so what if she was real? Well, if she was real, she was damn beautiful; then again, she was beautiful no matter what dimension she was in.

"Athena," I said, but since I was underwater only bubbles came out. The angel hovering above me smiled and it was only then that I realized she was real.

I pushed off from the bottom of the pool and resurfaced, wondering exactly what was going on. Athena resurfaced not a foot away from me, except now she looked scared.

"Can I help you?" I asked; coldness returning to my voice.

"Yes," she murmured, looking away.

"Well," I sighed, "what do you need?" We were both silent for a long time.

"You." That one word made every wall I had built, every barrier, every mask, _everything_ fall away and make me once again vulnerable to the only person that could ever hurt me. Why could she hurt me? Simply because whether she wanted it or not, hell, whether _I_ wanted it or not, I was hers. I always was hers, still _am_ hers, and will always continue to be hers. The question was not whether I would ever stop loving her, but if she would ever stop loving me.

"I'm already yours," I whispered, looking down, not able to look at her without crumbling entirely.

Silence.

I heard her take a breath sharply and then looked at her inconspicuously. She was dry sobbing; it cut me up inside, yet I didn't know why. Had I said something wrong? Was she hurt?

"Are you well?" I asked, putting my arms on her shoulders. She froze and slowly looked up at me. Then, without warning, she rushed into my chest, throwing her arms around me and sobbing more. It was one embrace I will never forget. After she had seemed to calm down a bit she managed to say.

"I am now." I tentatively put my arms around her small frame, reassuring myself I wasn't dreaming. "I'm sorry," she whispered, looking up.

I kissed her forehead, and slowly made my way down to her lips. "I forgive you, and I suppose I owe you an apology as well."

"Don't remind me of how stupid I was; I don't know what I could have possibly been thinking. I mean, of course you're more important than my family. You're my eternal husband."

"And you're my wife. Forever."


	26. Chapter 26

Beginning

After the pool incident, things still remained tentative and strained between us. Sulpicia kept trying to push us, but the more she pushed the more adamant we became on staying firm. I tried to let go of all the pent up tension, slowly of course, and channeled it to the business portion of my stay.

"Of course, Matapeh, with this years' excellent harvest I believe the Roman Empire would be delighted in trade," I said, looking over the loaded storehouses. I went to the nearest one and picked up some of the grain. "Especially when it is of this good quality."

"Thank you, Caius, on behalf of all the workers I thank you. Because of this deal we shall surely have a stable economy for a year, yet."

"Upon my arrival in Rome I will write, through express post, the Holy Emperor's thanks on the transaction," I said, closing up the arrangement.

"I will convey the thanks to Great Pharaoh and—" Matapeh was suddenly cut off by the entrance of a very distraught looking Sulpicia.

"Sulpicia?" I asked, slightly shocked at her presence.

"Caius, we must leave now!" she rushed.

"What?" I asked.

"It's begun, the Revolution!"

"Matapeh, send our regards to the Court, but I must go to my home." Matapeh bowed and left, leaving me alone with Sulpicia.

"Let's go!" Sulpicia said, pointing in the way of our direction home. I took a few steps in that way, but suddenly stopped. "What now?" Sulpicia hissed.

"Athena," I whispered and I sprinted to the palace, knowing that at the speed I was running no one would be able to see me. She was, as I expected, alone in her room; she didn't even seem surprised that I came in through her window.

"I was wondering when you would come," she said softly.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," I smiled, "but I have to leave. And remember, if I don't return from the battle that I love you. Always." I didn't give her a chance to inquire the meaning of my statement, but ran off to meet Sulpicia where I had left her.

"Lovesick idiot," she muttered as I joined her and we took off. I smiled at her remark, thus commencing a battle of insults the entire way back to Volterra. I wondered how she found out about the Revolution, but never had the chance to actually ask her.

*****

"Aro!" Sulpicia sang as she ran through the open castle doors and into the arms of Aro.

"I missed you, Sully," Aro whispered, kissing her softly. I was pretty sure Marcus and I felt the same pang of jealousy at what Aro could do.

"Would you two get your hands off each other and tell me what is going on?" I asked impatiently, and slightly annoyed.

"Jealous?" Aro kissed Sulpicia again.

"No, you fool, I just want to know why I was so abruptly called away from my stay in Egypt."

"From what I gather," Aro said pensively, "you had quite a surprise in Egypt."

"How did you know?" I asked, getting even more frustrated. Aro kissed Sulpicia for a third time.

"I have my ways." Sulpicia laughed and made a comment on his lack of respect for privacy. Oh right, physical contact is mind-reading for Aro; I wonder what exactly he had gathered with his kisses to Sulpicia. That did still count as physical contact, right? I wonder what it felt like to read someone's mind when they…never mind. _Get your head out of the gutter_, I chided myself. _You do _not_ want to know what goes on between Aro and Sulpicia at night._

"Could you three grow up and actually do something productive?" Marcus asked apathetically. Aro looked saddened at Marcus's lack of enthusiasm but did actually tell me what was going on.

Apparently the idiot officials I had spoken to at the government meeting had decided to act without me and arrested Jesus. The Romanians were obviously not happy about that. To make matters worse. Aro, the brainless fool that he is, sent a few Guard members out to kill Jesus. Their success seriously pissed off the Romanians and they had led a quick attach on a small residence we held on their countries border. None of our lookout Guard members had survived. What does that mean? Aro is planning the full on attack in two days' time.

For Aro, revenge is sweet. For me, revenge is stupid; or perhaps that's just because Aro is so fond of it.

"Don't forget about Felix," Marcus prompted.

"Oh, yes," Aro clapped, "we took a prisoner from the Romanian's, his name is Felix."

"Have you questioned him?" I asked, finally deciding this was somewhat interesting and useful.

"We left that task up to Heidi," Aro said simply, "she seems rather fond of him and he shows and earnest want to stay here." If only Felix knew what he was getting into…

"What information has he given us?" I asked.

"That the Romanian's are preparing an attack in one week. That's the reason we chose to attack in two days. The reinforcements the Romanian's have gathered will be meeting in four days. Thus, it would be better to attack before they arrive." Aro explained.

"Well, finally you did something smart," I muttered. Marcus nodded and then left to organize the Guard. As I watched him walk away I realized that his apathy would never go away. No matter how long he lived he would never be truly happy; without Didyme, Marcus was a broken man. The pity I felt for him tripled because if _I_ missed Didyme and her sarcastic comments, I couldn't comprehend exactly how much Marcus missed her.

I silently turned away and glided up to my room. It seemed so much bigger and emptier now that I was the only one currently occupying it. I decided to change from my Egyptian garb into something more appropriate. I decided to help Marcus get the Guard ready for lack of anything better to do. As it happened, the Guard was prepping _us_ more than they were.

"Caius, your turn," Marcus said, his face slightly paler.

"Turn for—" I was cut off by the most excruciating pain. I felt my knees buckle and the ground unkindly greet me but that was nothing compared to the overwhelming guilt and pain saturating my body. It coursed through every vein in my body; needles pricking me from the inside out, my head as if it were about to explode, feeling as if I would lose consciousness from the pain, but unable to. My throat burned not from thirst, though that too was intensified, but because my screams tore from my chest, thorns tearing and ripping my throat, yet to me, my screams were silent. I was forced to remember, feel, and relive every horrible thing I had done and then the memories took their own form and would manifest themselves making them worse, everything was my fault…my fault…I should die…I will die…I…

And then it was gone. I blinked and cleared my head, realizing how unceremoniously I was sprawled on the ground and how I had destroyed what was around me (the sapling that had been next to me was currently splinters adorning the ground). I stood up quickly and glared at Marcus immediately.

"You could have told me when Jane was going to," I said icily.

"I thought you liked surprises," Marcus replied apathetically.

"_Pleasant_ surprises," I corrected, "not slowly being tortured to death whilst remembering everything."

"Do you think it was any easier for me?" Marcus asked, finally meeting my glare and the depth of his pain was extremely apparent.

"You weren't screaming like I was," I said, "you weren't even on the ground."

"No," Marcus whispered, "I wasn't. Do you want to know why?"

"Why?" I asked emphatically.

"Because the pain that Jane recreates is the pain that I already bear," Marcus's voice was barely audible.

"Doubt it," I said. I knew Marcus had lost his wife but what I had just experienced was beyond any and all form of pain possible. Marcus whirled around,

"I don't think you know," he hissed, "you don't know what it's like to have the only thing important to you taken away. Wrenched from existence without a warning, without a chance to say goodbye…There _is_ something worse than saying goodbye, it's not having the chance to.

"When you truly love someone they aren't just a person, they are a part of you, and once that part is gone you will never be the same. It is dead, Caius, and no matter what happens it will never, _ever_ come back. Do you know what it is like to not only have to carry that weight around, but know that for the rest of eternity you will never be complete? Never be able to be happy, to care, to even _want _to care or be happy. No, you _don't_ know and you _will_ never know. One day when you have nothing left, no reason to live for, maybe then you'll understand that beyond a level a pain, nothing else matters, nothing else _exists_, and that we are just shadows of our former selves.

"There is a point of no return, and once you're there…there's nothing you can do." Marcus had gone from being forceful to almost inaudible at the end and now his words hung in the air; a constant reminder what Marcus felt every second of every minute of every of every day for the rest of forever.


	27. Chapter 27

Revolution

Much to my dislike and pain I had to practice with Jane until I was fully resistant to her power, as well as others who had powers similar. Why? Because according to Aro the Romanians might have a power that could possibly turn our Guard against us. My only consolation in this was that I got to watch Aro be tortured as well. Just for future reference, he screams like a girl.

*****

We moved swiftly and quietly through the countryside. We were eating snacks along the way just to maximize our strength.

I ran mostly apart from the huge group, hugging the coast. I ran through a village, snacking from the few that were up at this early hour and proceeding along the way until I would reach another village. Luckily, the sea towns here were many miles apart so compared to the others, I was technically being kind to humans.

I continued running, snacking less and less until I simply ran, uninterrupted, in one direction. I was running through another town when I saw an exquisite figure standing at the very edge of the village. I decided one more snack wouldn't hurt and silently pounced, sailing through the air until I pushed the person down and was kneeling over it…which I soon realized was a woman. A very, very pretty woman; a woman that so happened to be my wife.

"Athena," I whispered in shock, trying to stand up.

"Were you planning to suck my blood?" Athena asked, a smile growing on her face.

I was still shocked at seeing her; rendering me speechless. She laughed at my very apparent astonished expression and finally got up.

"You didn't think I was going to let you fight alone, did you?"

"No…" I whispered, I couldn't let her fight; I would be distracted by worrying about her. Then I remembered how she had killed the werewolves' without hesitation and thought maybe I should give her this chance. "Don't do anything reckless," I made her promise me; little did I know that millennia later a younger vampire than me would make his true love promise him the exact same thing.

"I promise," she said softly.

"Good," I kissed her and then we took off running again. "So how did you know where I was?"

"I returned to Volterra the next day, some of the Guard you left there told me everyone had already left for Romania so I ran as fast as I could and caught up to Aro. I asked him where you were, since you weren't with that group, and he said somewhere along the coastline. So I ran up ahead and decided to wait for you."

"I'm glad you did," I murmured, "I feel…stronger having you by my side," I admitted. She smiled brilliantly and we ran quietly for the remainder of the journey. Once we were getting close to Romania we swerved in towards the mainland, meeting up with the larger group.

Aro didn't look surprised at our new addition; Marcus, however, had a different reaction.

"Caius, don't let her fight," he said.

"She'll be fine," I said, trying to convince myself at the same time.

"Why would you even _dream_ of taking that risk?" Marcus asked, bewildered. "I did, and it didn't go very well for me, now did it?" I couldn't believe how easily Marcus had believed Aro, it was sad, really, but still, Marcus had a point. And I didn't have an answer for him. "I'll look out for her," Marcus whispered, and then much more quietly, "hopefully I'll die in the process." I knew Marcus had been suicidal for awhile now, and that Aro refused to kill him, I probably wouldn't either, which meant he would have to turn to something else if he wanted to die. I suppose here he had a fair chance. Again, I didn't know what to say.

"Uh, thank you?" I said awkwardly.

Marcus laughed dryly but did not reply: we had reached the Romanian stronghold.

We had already planned this; Felix would be coming home, 'escaping from captivity' and would distract the leaders. We had timed this; after fifteen minutes we would begin to infiltrate the castle, the women going first. It was the most obvious thing in the world that they should go first, especially Sulpicia, because if there should be any man left in the hallway, Sulpicia could make short work of him, as could any of the females in our Guard, except Jane…she couldn't pull of the seduction thing.

We waited, until finally from the third floor of the Romanian castle Sulpicia held out a red flag through the window: now we came into the picture. Felix had told us where the Guard usually stayed when off duty so that was where Aro and 3/4ths of the Guard would be going. I would be going with Marcus and a few other members of the Guard to where the leaders actually were.

Marcus and I followed different paths to where the leaders would be until we were finally just behind the large oak doors. On the count of three we burst through the door and quickly located the two extremely beautiful dark-haired females and grabbed them. Taking the mate's of the leaders was an easy way to make them do whatever we wanted. Of course, the bodyguards presented a bit of a problem.

Immediately, we were flung back against the wall. Our own Guard then became active and Akara annulled their powers. Before they could realize anything Marcus and I jumped toward the bodyguards while Jane tortured one of the wives. Marcus set fire to the bodies; beginning the time limit we would have to kill the leaders.

"Stop!" A short blond one shouted, staring at the woman with huge eyes, his mate perhaps?

"Continue," I said evenly to Jane who simply nodded, never taking her eyes off of the woman. The blond one glared at me and then sprang. I was already anticipating this and redirected him to Marcus after sufficiently tearing off his arm. One down, about ten to go.

Then the fight began.

Our Guard members began attacking theirs, and we began attacking them.

There were flying balls of fire around the room, screams of pain, yet it was ironic, in a room where there was intense fighting going on, there was very little blood.

Marcus flew past me, ending with a resounding thud against the wall. I growled and jumped at his attacker, pulling him off and tearing him in two. I tore one of the halves into a nearby fire and threw the other at another oncoming attacker. They stumbled but continued their path and before I knew it I had five long scratches running down my cheek and to my shoulder. I grabbed him by the side and threw him headfirst into the wall, and then the floor, and then the wall again.

Another leader came to his aid and pinned my arms behind me. Now it was my turn to meet the wall and floor. While I was held low I grabbed a leg and pulled, dragging my enemy down with me. I pulled the leg again, and heard a satisfying crack and saw that the leg was bent at a ninety degree angle…forwards. That little move earned me a broken arm.

I howled in pain and kicked wildly, miraculously hitting something. The large man that had been holding me back toppled over and Elzix took over from there. I tried to reset my arm, causing more pain, but it seemed to look better, and it was moveable.

Shortly after I had fixed my arm, it was broken again by a short, dark-haired vampire.

"Vladimir," I hissed, and elbowed him in the side. He cringed, but managed to adorn me with new scratches straight across my chest. Because I had drank so much blood along the way here, thick, dark red blood oozed out of my wounds, and then quickly sealed again; we healed fast, yet it was extremely painful. I staggered back, cornered against the wall by Vladimir, he was ready to snap my head off before he asked.

"Any last words?"

"Yes. Go to hell," I spat and he raised his hand. I simply smiled. Within a matter of seconds Vladimir was the one decapitated. "Thanks Aro," I said, thankful that the first group had finally joined, and that Aro had decided to help me in my rather undesirable predicament.

"Thanks," I muttered, assessing the current situation in the room. Aro shrugged and set about finding someone else to kill; there were only a few left, two to be exact. Vladimir was put together, as well as Stefan, but I could care less what their situation was, all I wanted to know was where my Athena was.

I left the room, running through the deserted hallways, towards where the fire and smoke came from; Aro probably lit the room where their Guard had been. I ran, even though my instincts screamed at me to turn around and flee. I kicked open every single door to make sure she wasn't in the room but I had reached the end of the hallway and still there was no sign of her. I could not go further; the fire was a blazing inferno past this point and walking through that would be a death wish.

"Athenodora?!" I called her name but silence greeted me; silence and the cackling of the flames consuming everything that was consumable. The heat made my skin crawl and almost made me dizzy but I had to focus. "Athena?" I called again. I was now running frantically throughout the entire castle.

I was running on the second floor when I heard a shriek come from a room filled with flames. "ATHENA!" I shouted and burst into the room. It was too late though, all that was left was a pale white hand and few locks of her flaxen hair. In that instant, though the heat of the room was scorching my skin and letting a reddish tinge color my vision everything went cold. I felt nothing, I was numb, frozen: all my meaning, my entire existence was worth no more. I was thankful for the flames; I wanted to call them back, to tell them there was one more thing they had yet to consume, for I no longer wanted to live.


	28. Chapter 28

Triumph

My body was not capable of producing tears yet I sobbed, regardless. I knew I was dying when two cold arms wrapped around my shoulders and Athena's glorious face appeared before me. I knew I was still alive when she slapped me, screamed a few profanities, and told me to get the hell out of the room.

"Athena?" I asked, once we were away from the fire, "but I saw the ashes…"

"I'm sure you did. However, they were not _my_ ashes."

"Athena!" I lifted her up and brought her to my chest, squeezing tightly. "I thought I lost you." I'm sure she had some either sarcastic remark, or immensely romantic thing to say; in either case I did not let her. I kissed her with enough passion to probably make the rest of the castle combust.

"C'mon," Athena whispered, "I don't want the castle to collapse on us after having so recently reconciled."

"Let the castle fall," I murmured, kissing her again, and not wanting to stop for a very long time.

"Be reasonable," she laughed, pulling away again and tugging on my hand to leave. I reluctantly agreed and we met up with Aro and the others outside the crumbling palace. Vladimir and Stefan were subdued by Alec while Aro and Marcus discussed what to do with them.

Athena and I discreetly joined them. About two things were very apparent to me: 1. Marcus was still alive though he clearly did not want to be, and 2. Aro wanted to kill the Romanian midgets. Marcus winced slightly at seeing Athenodora and I, but quickly composed himself, while Aro just seemed merely surprised.

"Finally you two come," Aro said, annoyed.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," I said sarcastically, _I only thought I lost my wife, and that I was going to die and then realized I actually hadn't and that it was the wrong vampire's ashes._

"So what's the problem?" Athena asked, changing the subject.

"Aro wants to kill them, I don't," was Marcus' reply.

"Don't kill them," I said, just to annoy Aro, and then more reasonably, "killing them would end their suffering, why would you want that when you could make them suffer for the rest of time?"

"Hmm," Aro said pensively, "good idea. That must be the first you've ever had."

"So the hypocrite speaks," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. Athena laughed while Marcus seemed somewhat amused.

"But what if they try to overthrow us?" Aro asked. That's when it hit everyone that _we_ were in power now, we had won.

"Let them," I shrugged, "I'm sure that it will take them _at least_ 3,000 years, and by that time we'll probably be bored."

"Fine," Aro said after a long time. He left to go talk with Alec and a few other gifted Guard members. Marcus slowly drifted away as well; he stood alone looking at nothing but I could imagine thinking of only one thing; that one thing he did not have.

"So are you happy, love?" Athena asked me, distracting me from my analysis.

"Happy about what?" I asked.

"Anything."

"I'm happy about winning," I admitted, "I'm happy that we only lost a few Guard members, I'm happy that you're back with me."

"Good," she said and smiled, "then I'm happy too." She held my hand and squeezed gently, "I've been happy for awhile now."

THE END

**(A/N: I'm happy it's over. I must say now thank you to everyone who's reviewed, S. Meyer, and Alycone. As you know, all types of review are welcome. Oh, and just so you know, there's going to be a sequel. I don't know what it's going to be called yet but I'll try to have it up on my profile soon. Once again, thank you! ~VL)**


	29. Chapter 29

This isn't a chapter…obviously, because the story ended. But this is to tell all my faithful readers (I love you all) that the sequel to this is going to be called Sunset. I am working on chapter one, and I'm sorry its taking so long, school has been bad and I'm finding time sparingly  In any case, I hope you guys like Sunset!


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